Alex Santarelli: Computer genius

Central York High School junior, Alex Santarelli, and designer of the school's app, has high hopes for his future. Santarelli recently went to a camp at MIT this last summer, where he soon plans on attending college. This camp, for iOS development, is where Santarelli learned about the production of apps. "As of today, we have over 3,200 downloads, which is a huge chunk of the community," Santarelli said, speaking of his Central app. "The really cool part about that number is that it is not just people who have downloaded it and pushed it to the side, those are active users and students. Santarelli plans to design apps beyond high school. Santarelli said he wanted to design the CYHS app to help teachers and students in Central, but wants to start branching out, so that it can also help community members. He felt a need for the app due to the amount of iPads in the building not being used to their full ability. "There's no central location where you can get everything you can possibly need and I think that's why I built the app, to kind of simplify everything," said Santarelli. Santarelli won an FBLA award, due to the success of the CYHS app, over the summer. Santarelli had the opportunity to intern at Facebook last summer, but unfortunately was too young and hopes to intern this summer since he is now of the appropriate age. "Being successful comes with a lot of weight because if I don't keep a certain pace at it, there's a lot of pressure. It's not that I'm not having fun, it's mainly just that I'm doing what I do and having fun which, I think, is the best part about it," he said. Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, is who Santarelli views as his role models because he is passionate about what he does. "I regret not having learned about software sooner because I feel that if I built a better background, the easier it would have been to develop more skills and be successful," Santarelli said. He has been interested in computers ever since he was 13. "I got my first iPod touch that year and I told myself that I wanted to make an app for it and I stuck with it until I learned how to make one," said Santarelli. Santarelli, a member of the iTeam, Central's technical help-service. "He has been a great asset in encouraging us to all be interested in programming," Debby Bieber, one of Central's technology specialist and iTeam advisors, said. Santarelli has plans to keep improving Central's app. "There's a huge update that's coming out soon and it's going to add a lot," Santarelli said.

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