A group of students from the Presque Isle Regional Career and Technical Center took home honors in a national business skills and trades competition, including a gold medal for a smartphone app that could help prevent texting and driving.
Five students and two instructors from the center travelled to Louisville, Ky., June 18-26 for the National Leadership and Skills Conference, where the students, from Presque Isle High School and the technical center, entered business competitions with other students from around the country.
Lauren Graves, Sedona Lucas and Shaye McHatten, all 2016 students, earned the gold medal in a technology contest for their smartphone application named Auto-Text.
The app, which they’re planning to eventually release to the public, is similar to a voice mail system for texting — a preferred communications method for many teenegers and adults who also put themselves at risk by texting and driving.
The app will automatically reply to text messages while the person is driving, responding with something like, “I’m driving right now, I’ll text you back when I am able,” said Amy White, a business technology instructor who joined the students on the trip. It also has an emergency feature that detects key words and chimes twice to alert the driver to pull over and respond when possible.
White said the students came up with the idea for the app and created it with the help of Snappy Appy Pie, an online app builder.
“One student focused on the app creation, another student focused on insurance facts and information, while the third student focused on surveys, charts, statistics and putting together the display,” White said.
The students also got advice from experts at MMG Insurance in Presque Isle on how the app could help drivers reduce their automobile insurance rates.
Also on the trip for the skills competition were MacKenzie Pelkey, a recent Presque Isle High School graduate who placed 22nd overall in a customer service skills contest, and incoming senior Jonathan Henderson, who placed 10th overall in a T-shirt design contest.
The trip was made possible with local donations from MMG Insurance, The Mark and Emily Turner Foundation, the Kiwanis Club and the Rotary Club, said White.
She added that it also was a good chance for the students to see other parts of the country. During the trip, they visited the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park, in Kentucky, toured underground caves and took a ride on the Belle of Louisville Steamboat on the Ohio River.
