The Start of Gamification

It was the end of my junior year and counselors were passing out schedules and class options for senior year. At first thought, I couldn’t believe I was receiving my schedule for senior year; the time had really flown by and the next stage of life was rapidly approaching. With that came many stresses: Where was I going to apply to college? Would I play lacrosse in college? How was I going to do laundry on my own? Most importantly, what was I going to major in? Counselors, teachers, and peers made it to seem like this single decision would determine the rest of my life. With all of the stress and consideration, I knew it was crucial for me to gain a better understanding of what careers I could pursue, and what exactly I was interested in. With this in my mind, I began to fill out my senior schedule.
From previous courses and being elected Student Body President, I knew I had interest in government and politics and I had began to consider Law and Political Science as a major. I decided to take Public Speaking and IB Psychology to further understand if I had interest in being in the public eye and to understand why people do what they do. Growing up, I had always had an interest in Dentistry and Orthodontics, so this was another career thought for me; and I had already taken chemistry and biology courses in preparation for medical careers. When considering what other sciences interested me, I couldn’t help but think about the idea of sustainability, which had been brought to my attention in my junior year science course AP Environmental Science (APES). Going into the class I knew the term, but really only understood it as a combination of a “tree hugger”  and/or a liberal topic. However, my APES teacher Mr. Chuck Crawford quickly dispelled this preconceived notion; he opened my eyes to all the positives of sustainability and all the positive impacts it can have on the world. He also helped me realize that it wasn’t just an environmental concern, but a concern for so many social and economic aspects of society as well. This really sparked an interest for me but I didn’t know what careers I could pursue that were associated with sustainability. This led to several discussions about career paths, skills and passions, and which classes could help me build a foundation for some associated majors.
After discussing which science course to take, we concluded that there really weren’t any courses that offered any further insight into the science of sustainability. Mr. Crawford then explained the concept of creating a Research Flex Credit. A flex credit essentially gives students a framework to create their own class (similar to an independent study), and pursue interests not offered in the current curriculum. I knew I couldn’t pass up this opportunity. Mr. Crawford and I went on to create a course centered on learning about sustainability in practical definition and as a corporate concern and responsibility. We also decided to share this with other students by creating a video library of interviews with various CEO’s regarding their business’ ability to grow and sustain, and what sustainability meant to their company.
Fast forward to the fall of my senior year: I had already conducted several interviews, including the Superintendent of Dublin City Schools, and representative from the City of Dublin’s Office of Growth and Economic Development. As Mr. Crawford and I brainstormed ideas for the next video he brought to my attention the company JadeTrack and the personal relationship he has with CEO and Dublin Coffman alumna, Ryan Prestel. As I researched the company in preparation for the interview, I realized that I had never heard of anything quite like JadeTrack. I was really intrigued by everything the company had to offer and what good it could really do for many companies. JadeTrack, just like my AP Environmental course, really opened my eyes to the power of sustainability and how it applies to so many aspects of business planning and development, as well as company, community and city growth and development. The real power in what JadeTrack brings to the table, which I had never really understood, is the ability to not only help companies conserve natural resources but to also save money and lead change. Following the interview with Ryan Prestel, I was even more interested in everything JadeTrack had to offer. Ryan invited me to check out their office in Rev1 Ventures (formerly TechColumbus) and have several more conversations regarding sustainability and what I could do to help the company. Ultimately, this introduced me to the idea of gamification of sustainability and it’s potential in my school.
Check out Addison and Ryan’s video by clicking the link below:

Flex credit video with JadeTrack CEO Ryan Prestel
Addison Stern is a Sales & Marketing intern for JadeTrack. He attended Dublin Jerome High School and graduated in June 2015. Find out more about Addison’s story on gamification in next week’s blog.