By Alishia Davis ’16
Being a JROTC cadet is easier than ever after the creation of an app by Concordia Lutheran High School seniors Reese Breischaft and Collin Peterson.
The app helps those in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC), including those at Concordia, find information such as chain of command, how and where items should be placed on their uniforms, and list of ranks.
“We really wanted to help all cadets to become the best they can,” Breischaft said.
The app started with an idea and quickly grew to a storyboard and 53,000 lines of code. The whole process took about 450 hours or about a month or late nights and early mornings. Along with coding and following Apple guidelines, the two had to sharpen their artistic and programming skills to make sure that the app looked professional upon completion.
“We wanted to create an app that would be easy to use, easy to understand, and that would essentially better all cadets in what they learned and how they learned,” Peterson said. “If you think you can do it you might as well try.”
Breischaft and Peterson learned their skills while in Scott Storm’s class, a computer science class at Concordia. With the support of administration, especially Assistant Principal Joshua Sommermeyer and Principal Mychal Thom, the team was off to the races.
The team also gained helped through the Student Venture Lab at the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center (NIIC) to get the app off of the ground, getting a quiet place to work and funding to help them get started. The Innovation Center is a non-profit resource center that helps grow and develop small businesses within the community. The funding for the Student Venture Lab comes from Lincoln Financial Foundation, iAB Financial Bank, and The Edward M. and Mary McCrea Wilson Foundation.
“Working with the NIIC has been a great experience and snapshot into professional life,” Breischaft said.
The app is now finished and available for purchase worldwide for $0.99. Their hope for the app is that JROTC programs nationwide will use and benefit from it.
“The immediate response to the app was overwhelmingly positive. All of the cadets found it useful and have been using it through their classes daily,” Peterson said.
Breischaft and Peterson aren't finished with the world of programming and graphic design, though. They have started a company, called Skald Inc., and both are interested in going into this career field and are working on more projects, including a second app, a game called Knight of Isolation.
“It is a simple game that will challenge players to best their friends’ scores,” Breischaft said.
It’s clear their JROTC app was just the beginning of Breischaft and Peterson’s roles in the world of programming and graphic design.
“We hope that this will help all JROTC cadets with the some of the difficulties of the program,” Breischaft said.
If you’re interested in creating apps or want to learn more about their company, contact Reese Breischaft and Collin Peterson at [email protected] and [email protected].
Being a JROTC cadet is easier than ever after the creation of an app by Concordia Lutheran High School seniors Reese Breischaft and Collin Peterson.
The app helps those in the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC), including those at Concordia, find information such as chain of command, how and where items should be placed on their uniforms, and list of ranks.
“We really wanted to help all cadets to become the best they can,” Breischaft said.
The app started with an idea and quickly grew to a storyboard and 53,000 lines of code. The whole process took about 450 hours or about a month or late nights and early mornings. Along with coding and following Apple guidelines, the two had to sharpen their artistic and programming skills to make sure that the app looked professional upon completion.
“We wanted to create an app that would be easy to use, easy to understand, and that would essentially better all cadets in what they learned and how they learned,” Peterson said. “If you think you can do it you might as well try.”
Breischaft and Peterson learned their skills while in Scott Storm’s class, a computer science class at Concordia. With the support of administration, especially Assistant Principal Joshua Sommermeyer and Principal Mychal Thom, the team was off to the races.
The team also gained helped through the Student Venture Lab at the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center (NIIC) to get the app off of the ground, getting a quiet place to work and funding to help them get started. The Innovation Center is a non-profit resource center that helps grow and develop small businesses within the community. The funding for the Student Venture Lab comes from Lincoln Financial Foundation, iAB Financial Bank, and The Edward M. and Mary McCrea Wilson Foundation.
“Working with the NIIC has been a great experience and snapshot into professional life,” Breischaft said.
The app is now finished and available for purchase worldwide for $0.99. Their hope for the app is that JROTC programs nationwide will use and benefit from it.
“The immediate response to the app was overwhelmingly positive. All of the cadets found it useful and have been using it through their classes daily,” Peterson said.
Breischaft and Peterson aren't finished with the world of programming and graphic design, though. They have started a company, called Skald Inc., and both are interested in going into this career field and are working on more projects, including a second app, a game called Knight of Isolation.
“It is a simple game that will challenge players to best their friends’ scores,” Breischaft said.
It’s clear their JROTC app was just the beginning of Breischaft and Peterson’s roles in the world of programming and graphic design.
“We hope that this will help all JROTC cadets with the some of the difficulties of the program,” Breischaft said.
If you’re interested in creating apps or want to learn more about their company, contact Reese Breischaft and Collin Peterson at [email protected] and [email protected].