Tyler Tech honors high school innovators in Maine App Challenge

Photo / Whitney J. Fox Photography From left: Maine App Challenge winners Miles Dailey and Isaac Wright of Mt. Ararat High School, Violet Blum Levine of Deering High School and Alex Pooler of Windham High School with their scholarship awards from Tyler Technologies Inc.

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By Renee Cordes

Tyler Technologies Inc. (NYSE: TYL), a Plano, Texas-based provider of software and technology services with around 1,200 employees in Maine, honored three teams of high school innovators over the weekend in the company’s 2024 Maine App Challenge.

The annual contest, in which students develop their own mobile software programs, introduces the competitors to science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. Tyler says the App Challenge also supports the notion that young people can find opportunities in Maine and excel in those fields.

“We’re proud to recognize these talented individuals in this year’s Maine App Challenge,” said Chris Webster, president of Tyler’s enterprise resource planning and civic division. “We hope that this contest continues to inspire these students to pursue STEM-related careers in the future. Companies in Maine, including Tyler, would welcome the talent of these bright students.”

This year’s first place winner is Violet Blum Levine of Portland's Deering High School. She created a a scheduling system for parent-teacher conferences called PT Connect.

Second place went to Miles Dailey and Isaac Wright of Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham. They developed a tool called PlanPal to help students keep track of their assignments.

Third place went to Alex Pooler of Windham High School. He created Good Morning Class, an interactive check-in app for elementary school teachers and students.

The winners received scholarships totaling $10,000 in 529 college savings plans, presented at an awards ceremony in Portland.

Since its inception, the Maine App Challenge has gifted more than $100,000 to students in Maine.

As part of this year’s contest, Tyler awarded $500 to Casco Bay High School in Portland for having the most teams or individuals submitting an eligible entry.

Similar to last year, Tyler collaborated with the Foster Center for Innovation at the University of Maine to host a series of free workshops for students to help with brainstorming, prototyping and testing their applications.

Tyler also partnered with the University of Maine on its fundamentals of innovation course available online to high school students as an early college course that allows them to earn college credits while designing an app submission for the Maine App Challenge.