During their first quarter this fall, Upper School students in Full Stack Web Development class put their coding skills to the test by creating websites that solve a problem or address a need in their lives. Working on their front-end web development skills using the CSS programming language, students used what they learned to visually present information in an aesthetically pleasing form, according to Upper School Math Teacher Dan Calmeyer.

Junior Reed D.'s website was inspired by her Community Action Project (CAP) as inspiration. Her CAP involved organizing a Community Health & Wellness Fair for the nonprofit organization Young & Healthy. "Since the Health Fair is a new event, Young & Healthy did not have a website or online informational resource to advertise the event with," Reed said. To her, it was the perfect opportunity to help the nonprofit and put her coding skills to use. Though she initially struggled with figuring out how she wanted to display the information, Reed said she ended up with a website she's proud of after playing around with different styles and techniques, ensuring that the fonts and color schemes she used were consistent with Young & Healthy's branding.

"All of us had a lot of fun with this project, and even want to continue building on it after we presented the project to perfect it," said Emily L. '25, who created a code database (pictured to the left) to organize the code she has saved on her computer—which she has already used in her coding here and there. "Mr. Calmeyer has a famous line in Full Stack class: 'It's not done, it's just due.' There are endless possibilities with the things we create and always room for more, which is what I love about web design."

In addition to Reed and Emily’s projects, students created websites with themes including:

• A journalism portfolio
• Crochet Corner (filled with crochet projects, tutorial links, and inspiration)
• A music playlist picker
• Violin playing reminder and motivation tips
• Chess opening moves (with visual cues)
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes
• Outfit picker (inspired by the 1995 film “Clueless”)
• Self-care tips
• Art and music documentation