Project Shatter
January 2019
This project was completed in the Collegiate Cup, a statewide hackathon dedicated to helping people in Georgia, in which we won the People's Choice award. I worked on a team of four to find a solution and build it. We built the website using a React front end a node server for running and testing python code, and using Firestore as a database for the users and projects. You can view the source code on Github here. The following is our Devpost submission which can be viewed here, as well as some images of the website.
Picture this, you are a high school student in Barnesville, Georgia. You work hard, and are one of the top students in your class while also holding a part time job after school. Just like 25% of the children in Georgia, you’ve grown up in poverty, and don’t have access to the internet. You dream of being able to work for America’s biggest tech companies, but your school won’t even teach you AP computer science. It seems that despite your best efforts, there’s a glass ceiling keeping you from reaching your goals. It’s not fair, and it’s why we’ve created Project Shatter.
Our project provides the means necessary for students throughout rural Georgia to be successful in the field of Computer Science. It establishes a network within the school systems of these regions that connects these students with companies and nonprofit organizations looking for someone to help with minor, computing related tasks. Students can use the many free resources we provide to improve their abilities and expand their knowledge, opening them up to be hired for more advanced tasks. This allows them to both learn computer science and earn the income their family may depend on.
Companies and nonprofit organizations looking for cheap work on small tasks can post a task to the network, allowing students to apply for the job. Those who the company deems best fit for the job are hired, and the students are able to work directly for that company. Through this system all businesses and organizations are able to fulfill their corporate social responsibility, promote diversity, and save money.
Our hope is that Project Shatter sets up our students for future success. By giving them the opportunities to gain real world experience and work on real projects, we aim to allow students to get into more prestigious universities and long term employment.
In the future we want to implement a variety of new features to improve the versatility of our product. This includes a direct communication system between students and company representatives, auto-generation of service hour confirmation forms, and the ability for companies to provide their own coding challenges when they post a task to the network.
