Green River students build website for Kent Food Bank | Viewpoint

By Andy Orr
Program manager at Green River College

Learning software development at Green River College involves building working software that addresses a real need for a real client. In the process, students gain valuable project experience and the client gets free software — win, win.

In a compelling instance of developing software for social good, students enrolled in Green River’s evening Bachelor’s in Software Development (which, parenthetically, boasts an impressive 45 percent enrollment of women) recently took on the Kent Food Bank as a client in IT 305: Web Development Frameworks.

Partnering with the food bank made a lot of sense. For one, the food bank needed a dynamic, mobile-friendly website to promote its services, accept volunteer sign-ups, and collect monetary donations – a perfect project match for IT 305, which dives deeply into “front-end” Web technologies, as well as “back-end” development.

The food bank also happens to be near Green River’s Kent Station Campus, where evening software development students attend. Close proximity set the stage for frequent collaboration between class and client.

The course kicked off in January with a visit from Kent Food Bank Executive Director Jeniece Choate, who discussed her organization in detail and outlined their vision for a new website. Students then spent an evening volunteering at the Food Bank to get a feel for day-to-day, on-the-ground operations.

“I wanted my students to visit the Kent Food Bank and volunteer there so that they would be better equipped to build a website for the organization,” says IT 305 instructor Tina Ostrander. “When doing software development, it is critically important to understand your clients’ needs.”

After volunteering, students split up into small development teams then started designing competing versions of a new Kent Food Bank website. Students developed website incrementally in two week “sprints.” The client (usually Choate and a board member) offered critical feedback on student work along the way.

At the end of the academic quarter 12 weeks later, each student team presented its final product to Choate and food bank board member Lori Macauley. Industry partners from Expeditors International, including Hellie Walter (manager, IS Services) and Carrie Rabasa (user experience designer), were also on hand to provide coaching and targeted product feedback. Then, based on client feedback and instructor review, one website was selected for implementation.

Proud of a project

Kimberly Praxel, Joshua Clark, Chris Knoll, and Joshua Hawks, whose website was selected, are tremendously proud of their accomplishment and the project experience they gained along the way.

“Building a website for the Kent Food Bank was an incredibly meaningful experience,” Praxel said. “I was able to work with an actual client. Along those lines, the most important thing I learned in the process was not to get too stuck on my personal vision for the website. You have to be responsive to the needs of the client, which means your design might need to change to suit their needs.”

“To be able to use what we learn in the classroom to help the community, in this case the Kent Food Bank, meant a lot,” Knoll said. “One of the major reasons I was attracted to software development was the ability to positively impact peoples’ lives with the websites and programs we create. It’s an awesome feeling helping others.”

One of the biggest challenges that students report encountering along the way wasn’t creating a website from scratch or mastering a specific technology. Rather, it was learning how to function effectively within a development team.

“One challenge I faced with this project,” Praxel said, “was figuring out the dynamic personalities of my teammates. I’m not a wait-till-the-last-minute kind of person and I like to plan ahead, but others prefer working under pressure at the last minute. Finding a balance between our respective work styles was my biggest challenge, but in the process I built some incredible friendships that I will have for the rest of my life.”

“Agreed, the biggest challenge was the initial meshing of the group,” Hawks said. “Honestly, our personalities clashed at times, but as things progressed we learned how to work together and became good pals.”

Board members at the food bank are equally thrilled to have a beautiful new website in place to attract donors and promote services to the community.

“My experience in working with Green River students has been incredible,” said food bank board member Lori Macauley. “They truly surpassed my expectations with their level of creativity and willingness to satisfy all of our needs and requests. Thanks to this website, the increased visibility of the Kent Food Bank will help tremendously in increasing our donations, our volunteers, and the number of people we can serve!”

“Working with Green River has been an amazing process,” Choate said. “Students have made a huge impact on the Kent Food Bank. The website will help the food bank for years to come with a greater ability to serve the Kent Community.”

In sum, Green River’s collaboration with the food bank shows that students, when given the chance, can apply their craft to change the world – one client at a time. For students in IT 305, the future looks particularly bright.

“While we could only choose one website for implementation,” Ostrander said, “I’m incredibly proud of all my students. They built beautiful, responsive websites in just one academic quarter (12 weeks), which is no easy task. Each and every one of them developed their technical skills, negotiated team dynamics, learned how to collaborate with a real-life client, and had the opportunity to receive coaching and feedback from our partners at Expeditors. The course was an overwhelming success.”

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The Kent Food Bank provides food assistance, a clothing bank, and emergency services to low-income residents of the Kent School District. Sign up to become a volunteer or make a tax-deductible donation at www.kentfoodbank.org.

Reach Andy Orr, program manager at Green River College, at aorr@greenriver.edu.

PHOTO BELOW:
Green River College students sort clothing at the Kent Food Bank.