Bartlett students design winning fitness app

A team of freshmen students in Bartlett High School's Science, Engineering and Technology Academy earned state and Midwest regional honors in the Verizon Innovative App Challenge.

Their winning concept Fittastick (pronounced Fit-tastic) is a fitness application that uses social media to motivate users to exercise and eat healthy. The students won a $5,000 grant to help enhance STEM education at Bartlett High School.

"I am consistently impressed with our students' ability to develop next generation technologies that have the potential for wide appeal among today's consumers," said Elgin Area School District U-46 Superintendent José M. Torres. "It's especially exciting that the work of these freshmen students will help bring additional STEM resources to Bartlett High School."

The winning team includes: Aishwarya Jois, Amar Patel, Autumn Chung, Ivana Bozic, Purav Shah, and Shil Shah with the help of faculty adviser Philip Church. The students will have the opportunity to work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to make their application a reality. Forty-seven Bartlett High School Academy freshmen competed in the Verizon Application Challenge.