STEAM LIFE

By Keith Taylor, Web and Social Media Coordinator

THE ALLEN ISD STEAM CENTER is known for promoting innovative thinking and creative problem-solving. However, many may not realize the emphasis on team planning and longterm strategies.

One team of students is setting out to prove the power of longterm thinking by creating a mobile app that can be used by students today and well into the future.

“Our idea was to create a mobile app to help students and teachers keep up with classes, activities, and assignments at the STEAM Center,” said idea developer and project leader Matthew Caldarola.

“STEAM Life gives students easy access to the Center calendar and allows them to see teacher and club schedules,” Matthew said, “Additionally, the app can be used to schedule events and provide easy communications between staff and students.”

The STEAM Life site is viewable at Life.AllenSC.org. It features an informative “About” page, the STEAM calendar, links to STEAM clubs and organizations, and services offered by the STEAM Life project. All of the information is contained on the STEAM Life app which is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

In 2020, Matthew sent the idea to the STEAM Ambassadors sponsor Nathan Storts. STEAM Ambassadors is an organization of student leaders at the facility. That idea eventually resulted in the creation of STEAM Life – a collaboration of STEAM Ambassadors, Computer Science, and Graphic Design students – for students and staff to use as a one-stop service for all things STEAM.

However, the exciting result had to overcome some significant obstacles before coming to fruition. In the beginning when Matthew was a sophomore and first had the idea, he and his young seven-member team – along with staff instructors – soon realized that long-term continuity of the project would be an issue. After all, students graduate every year.

“We decided to implement the project in phases,” said Matthew, now a senior. In the initial phase, the team started with seven members. It quickly grew to 20 and continues at that size today.

STEAM Life Project leaders include Project Manager Aryan Bhuta, creator and Project Leader Matthew Caldarola and Marketing Manager Ria Mahadevan.

“Recruitment is a big part of making sure the project is successful,” Matthew said. “We recruit younger members and find opportunities for them to be involved in all aspects of the project.”

Project manager Aryan Bhuta said he devotes a lot of his time to help younger team members develop the skills to become future project managers.

“We added several manager positions to provide younger members with the experience to become project managers as senior members move on,” Aryan said.

One of the younger members, sophomore Ria Mahadevan, has been tasked with marketing the STEAM Life app and she feels confident about the future of the product.

“By working with these guys, I have gained a lot of experience with and understanding of the project,” Ria said. “I think we’ll be ready to take their places when they graduate.”

Over the past three years and under the mentorship of Nathan Storts and Computer Science teacher David Ben-Yaakov, the STEAM Life Team has developed the coding to make the site and mobile app work, designed the look and feel of the app, and promoted it to students and staff. Now in Phase 3, the project offers an organized and aesthetically pleasing website and a robust and intuitive mobile app.

Matthew, Aryan and Ria all agree the project will be a success for a long time to come.

“The STEAM Life project is a great example of the variety of future-ready skills our students develop to become active and productive members of academia or the workforce after they graduate from Allen High School,” said STEAM Center Executive Director Larry Labue.