Smoky Hill High School students in Colorado build app to help classmates with college admissions

On Friday nights, Smoky Hill High School is known for playing football in the highly competitive Centennial League. But inside its classrooms, another kind of teamwork is taking shape.

While the Smoky Hill Buffaloes prepare to take on the Arapahoe Warriors on the field, a group of students is tackling a challenge of their own, helping their classmates take their first steps toward college.

Every two weeks, the students meet to work on an app called “1Step,” a digital platform designed to make the college application process easier and more accessible for students.

“1Step in a nutshell is a postsecondary success program where we offer help for all types of students,” said Amir Manza, one of the project’s creators.

Manza came up with the idea after facing his own frustrations while applying to college.

“I wouldn’t wish somebody to go through all this headache like I did,” he said. “So, I thought, I know how to code. Why not make something to help?”

That idea turned into the 1Step App, which gives students a year-by-year roadmap for preparing for college. The homepage includes timelines for each grade level, while a dashboard allows users to enter their GPA, SAT scores, and volunteer hours.

The app’s algorithm predicts a student’s likelihood of getting into specific schools. But Manza emphasizes that the goal isn’t just numbers.

“It looks at a holistic view. College admissions are about more than grades and test scores. It’s about who you are as a person.”

“We’re not focused on profit,” Manza’s teammate, William O’Donnell, said. “We just want to help people set themselves up for postsecondary success.”

That spirit of innovation is now fueling the students’ participation in the Congressional App Challenge, a nationwide competition encouraging middle and high school students to learn coding and develop apps that address real-world issues.

The Congressional App Challenge was launched in 2013 by the U.S. House of Representatives to promote computer science education. Each year, congressional districts across the country invite students to create original apps showcasing creativity, problem-solving and technology skills.

In Colorado, Rep. Jason Crow (D) Colorado’s 6th Congressional District hosts the challenge for the state’s 6th District. Winners are invited to Washington, D.C., to present their apps at a national celebration called “House of Code.”

The Smoky Hill students are working to finish their app before this year’s Oct. 30 submission deadline.

“It’s not perfect yet,” O’Donnell said. “But it gives students a better understanding of what they need to do to reach the school of their dreams.”