Student perspective: Kayle Maxfield

In October 2023, I completed my first Teamship with District C For the program, my team and I worked with ApSeed Early Childhood Education. ApSeed is a non-profit organization that is working to “ensure all kids have access to learn the skills they need to be kindergarten-ready.” To achieve this goal, ApSeed is providing Seedlings—internet-free touchpads with various learning apps—to children across the world.

In order for ApSeed to create and distribute the Seedlings, they needed to secure more funding. But to receive the funding, they had to have usage and impact data to prove that the seedlings were preparing the kids for kindergarten. This was the problem ApSeed gave my team and I to work on.

Our first step in finding a solution was dissecting the problem. We wanted to understand the real issue that ApSeed was faced with. From there, we began to research different ways to collect usage and impact data from a touchpad that does not have any internet connection. We even considered looking into ways ApSeed could receive more funding without this data.

In the end, my team and I came up with two solutions! The first solution was a data app. The data app set up would resemble the screen time feature available on iPhones. The app could be easily accessed by an adult who would share the data with ApSeed once a month. Our second solution was reaching out to Beta Clubs in the areas ApSeed already serves and asking the clubs to partner with them for a service project. Since ApSeed is a non-profit organization, Beta Clubs could hold fundraisers and informational events to raise money while gaining volunteer hours. This idea would contribute to both parties, as Beta members are required to earn a certain amount of volunteer hours each semester, and ApSeed could use the funding and promotion.

Participating in the District C Teamship was an amazing opportunity! I learned how to network and think outside the box, and I gained some more work experience. Thank you, Ms. Virginia Pitler, for leading my Teamship experience, and thank you, Ms. Julie Morrow, for providing my team and me the opportunity to work with you. And a special thanks to my SparkLab teacher, Ms. Victoria (Tori Sparks) Sylvestre! If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have known about the wonderful opportunities District C has to offer.