SUPPORTING families through divorce was the goal of the app ‘Split Connect’, which was created for the ‘Just Start It’ competition and inspired by the experiences of a Seton Catholic College student.
A team of five boys won the competition which is based around ‘start up companies’.
The goal was to identify a problem in the world and help solve it using technology like an app or website.
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READ NOWYear 11 student Reece Markham said he had a personal connection with the app.
“My parents had a divorce which was the inspiration for our app ‘Split Connect’,” he said.
“It’s a professional platform and put the focus on the divorce back onto the kids.
“It would help a lot of people and provide support.”
Owen Neal is the teacher of a subject called ‘project-based learning’, which was taught for the first time last year.
“I heard about this competition and asked the school if this is something we could explore more,” Mr Neal said.
“The app is an online platform which brings a professional like a teacher, psychologist or publics servant in to help with family situations.
“One of the catchphrases used was ‘helping parents to parent’.
“The kids got to pitch to 10 different business professionals which was a great experience.”
It was out the finals of this competition that the team got an opportunity to pitch a waste management idea to the City of Canning for their ‘Hackathon’.
Mr Neal said the team’s idea was to find a program to encourage recycling in schools.
“The concept was called ‘Toss It’ and it was all about raising awareness in schools and bringing it home,” he said.
Jake Mincherton, a year 11 student, said they thought a series of videos would be a good solution for the City of Canning.
“We researched and we found that people retain 15 per cent more information through videos,” he said.
Despite not winning the City of Canning waste management competition the City will still use their idea.
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