AppsCo wins 18th Congressional District App Challenge

PEORIA — AppsCo is going to Congress, at least virtually.

A team of Richwoods High School students in the social media entrepreneurship program won the 2017 Congressional App Challenge for the 18th District.

U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood announced the winners Friday at the Riverfront Museum, the subject of the students’ winning entry.

Students Mariah Cooley, Ruby Hirschman, Shaelyn Johnson and Montreal Thomas helped create and market an app designed to showcase events and other useful features at the museum. The app also collects customer data that can be used for marketing the museum.

More than 4,000 students from 190 Congressional Districts submitted entries. Winning entries, including AppsCo’s Riverfront Museum app, will be displayed at the U.S. Capitol Building and on the U.S. House of Representatives website, House.gov.

PPS Students work to bring life back into Peoria Stadium

press

PEORIA, Ill – A group of Peoria Public School students from Richwoods Highschool who help with the advertisement sales of the app Appsco, are doing what they can to help historic Peoria Stadium be renovated.
Originally set up to raise money for school district goals, Appsco is expanding its focus of generating revenue from an LED advertisement sign at Peoria stadium, to raising funds for the entire complex.
“Hope to create four new multi purpose fields, be it football lacrosse, flag football, or cricket,” said Alexis Khazzam, CEO of Appsco.
With the help of PPS, students will encourage business’s to purchase advertising, naming rights and more

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Students Present Plan For Digital Sign

press

Local Peoria Public Schools students presented their plan for a digital sign to be put up near Peoria stadium to raise funds for the structure.
The students are part of the AppsCo program, an entrepreneurial training program based program at Richwoods High School.
Sponsors will advertise on the sign with the money supporting the stadium.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Message from the Illinois Superintendent

press

We were mentioned by the Illinois superintendent!

Peoria School District 150, a member of the competency-based education pilot, is pushing the bounds of the high school experience in a number of ways. A group of students in Peoria School District 150 is supporting local companies through the student-run entrepreneurship program, AppsCo. Students help local businesses build their brands, engage customers, and increase sales through mobile app development, search engine optimization, and internet marketing. AppsCo raises funds for the school district while providing students with business education and mentorship from local business leaders.

Continue reading “Message from the Illinois Superintendent” →

PPS student-based business celebrates success, aims to expand

press

Mariah Cooley boasts a solid resume: she has experience launching a tech startup, speaking in public, seeking investors and innovating new projects.Just think of what she might do when she graduates high school.

She’ll likely need a longer resume, as will 29 Richwoods High School classmates involved in the student-based business AppsCo (short for A Peoria Public Schools Company). Saturday, participants and parents gathered with program leaders and sponsors at the Peoria Riverfront Museum to showcase the burgeoning entrepreneurship. Later this month, the Peoria Public Schools board will vote whether to expand the program to the district’s other two high schools.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

AppsCo employees show the community what they’ve accomplished so far this year

press

Richwoods High School students got to show their progress so far with AppsCo.
The non-profit teaches the students how to create apps for local companies and the funds raised go to Peoria Public Schools.

Peoria leaders, parents and friends came out to the Peoria Riverfront Museum Saturday to see what the students have accomplished so far with AppsCo, and their parents couldn’t be happier with what they’ve accomplished through the program.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Fundraising to fix up Peoria Stadium to start

press

PEORIA – Plans for a public fundraising drive to renovate Peoria Stadium are beginning to take shape, and the $150,00 grant the city of Peoria recently received to build a water park in South Peoria could be used on the East Bluff instead.

Jackson and Dan Walther, the committee’s new chairman, said people are willing to donate money to refurbish the stadium, which has reeled in recent years from disrepair, controversy over plans to sell the land to Wal-Mart and failed talks with a private group that proposed taking over the site and transforming it into an all-turf, multi-use athletic facility.

Jackson recommended creating a fundraising committee after the group was updated on a high school club’s plans to install an electronic sign at the stadium’s entrance along War Memorial Drive.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

AppsCo Goes National From Associated Press Article

press

AppsCo is excited to announce that the Associated Press shared our article from PJ Star about our future plan to build an LED sign for Peoria Public Schools. Thanks to the Associated Press we have gained natural exposure!!

PEORIA, Ill. (AP) – High school students in central Illinois are part of an effort to renovate Peoria Stadium.
The (Peoria) Journal Star reports that the Richwoods High School students are part of an entrepreneurial training program. They’re planning to raise money to install an LED sign at the field and sell advertising on the space. Officials say profits would be used to start renovating the stadium and possibly begin a larger fundraising campaign for stadium improvements.
The students attended a Peoria Zoning and Planning Commission meeting and plan to attend a City Council meeting this month as they seek permission for their sign.

Students in the program already have developed and marketed a mobile phone app for a local country club and are working on a similar project for the Peoria Riverfront Museum

THESE MEDIAS HAVE SHARED THE ARTICLE, CHECK THEM OUT!

WBTW – Myrtle Beach and Florence, South Carolina
http://wbtw.com/ap/high-school-students-hoping-to-help-renovate-peoria-stadium/

Miami Herald – Miami, FL
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article167049902.html

Washington Times – Washington, D.C.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/aug/14/high-school-students-hoping-to-help-renovate-peori/

SF Gate – San Francisco, CA
http://www.sfgate.com/news/education/article/High-school-students-hoping-to-help-renovate-11816990.php

New Haven Register – New Haven, CT
http://www.nhregister.com/news/education/article/High-school-students-hoping-to-help-renovate-11816990.php

iBi PEORIA- Expanding Real-World Experience

press

In addition to earning college credit while attending high school, more students are interning to gain experience in the workplace. Through internships facilitated by Peoria Pathways, PPS high school students gain work experience and earn income. Peoria Pathways also hosts a monthly workshop for local employers on hosting high school interns.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

PJ Star:” Student business group wants to be key to reviving Peoria Stadium”

press

The old football-shaped wooden sign at Peoria Stadium’s entrance along War Memorial Drive could become a modern electronic billboard and the stimulus for renovating the beleaguered sports field. Students in the AppsCo program, an entrepreneurial training program based at Richwoods High School, are researching the city of Peoria’s requirements to erect a digital sign at the location.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE