Canyon High School’s computer science class held its annual Demo Day last week during a lunch period, showcasing students’ original apps and video games they designed and developed throughout the semester.
Hundreds of students trickled into Josh Underwood’s computer science classroom to take a closer look at original games and apps created by Canyon students in the app development program, a capstone class designed for students who have built programming skills through previous coursework.
The app development program aims to simulate the real world, giving students the opportunity to meet hard deadlines throughout the development process while gaining skills that extend beyond the high school classroom.
“The class is more about learning how to collaborate and so in the real world they can answer questions and interviews very intelligently,” Underwood said. “To have that experience that will hopefully set them apart as they hit the real world.”
Students begin the process by pitching ideas, which are then selected through a voting process before students are assigned to teams. The teams, formed in January, build each project from the ground up, Underwood said.
This year, teams incorporated artificial intelligence into their work to help break projects into smaller tasks and “have a better idea of what needed to get done,” Underwood added.
Seniors Vianney Segovia and Reese Dagting both gained the skills of communication and collaboration from the entire process.
“We completed the whole game in under two weeks. We came up with the idea, design, programmed,” said Segovia, who will be heading off to California State University Chico to pursue game development and design. “There was a lot of real-world experience, because we’re looking how to actually engage with each other, not only in the classroom environment but in a job-like environment.”
“I learned that I’m not very good at organizing myself, and I would constantly check through what I have, and what others have,” Dagting added. Their team developed two games, a 2D game titled “Alice and the White Rabbit” and a 3D game titled “Catacomb Hotel.”
“It’s their vision so it’s fun to see come to life. It’s fun to see them have to really work hard to achieve a goal. It’s also a challenge to motivate them,” Underwood said.
William S. Hart Union High School District governing board clerk Erin Wilson was also present and applauded Underwood for his initiative to provide a unique experience to his students that will set them apart for higher educationopportunities.
“He’s created this culture here where they work hard, they are excited about this event,” Wilson said. “They are much more engaged in school, in life, by creating. I am not surprised by that, but I am encouraged and inspired by it. I think it’swonderful and what I like to hear happening at school.”
