Tristan Terrell ’22 Creates An Award-Winning App

Congratulations to Tristan Terrell ’22, whose app “Shuffle Block” won the prestigious Congressional App Challenge for the District of Columbia. Tristan took the 2016 STA Block iPhone app pioneered by Henry Schmandt ’16 and Trevor Van Vleck ’16, then enhanced by David Hla ’20, to the next level to help students manage this year’s rotating block schedule, made even more complicated by our hybrid-cohort schedule for pandemic times.

More than 6,000 students from across the country participated in the challenge, hosted by 308 members of Congress. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton wrote to Tristan: “It is a high honor to be among winners of the spectacular program. To have your winning submission, ‘Shuffle Block,’ selected as a winning application, is an impressive accomplishment.” One innovation introduced by Tristan is to expand the app to work not just with STA’s schedule, but any rotating schedule. Noted Computer Science Department Chair Michael Hansen, “Thanks to Tristan’s efforts, this app is no longer just for STA students but for students at any school, anywhere.”

Students can download the app at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/sta-day/id1532268261#?platform=iphone, and learn more about the challenge at CongressionalAppChallenge.us.