Stephens-Petrochko Geography App

When Tyler Pterochko GA class of 2014 was a freshman, he had a conversation with middle school history teach Mark Stephens that became the focus of his Academy Scholars Project developed over the last three years.  What began as frustration over finding good software to support middle school geography became Stephens-Petrochko An open-source project, designed to provide user-friendly and dynamic software for geography curricula.  Designed "to allow developers to create their own map packs without needing to know programming.  The software also allows teachers to customize their own quizzes, in support of a more collaborative, technology-empowered teaching community."  Petrochko is a self taught programmer and game designer who plans on pursuing a career in computer science.  He las already prototyped a Binary Array Linked - Data structure, and and an External Server Verification Method to Prevent Against SSL-Stripping.  And he reports that he regularly uses Design Thinking as his idea generation and development process.  As a Challenge GA Trainer in the Upper School, he became aware that the process he followed had a name in the design and engineering worlds.  To hear him tell it, "I was using Design Thinking the whole time I was developing the software even though I didn't know it.  I began this project because I empathized with Stephen's need for a better teaching tool.  Once I understood that need, I defined, ideated, prototyped, and tested. "