Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/478363
TwoCaliforniaStateUni- versity, Chico students are offering an incentive to stu- dents to put their phones down during class — dis- counts and free food at lo- cal businesses. Rob Richardson and Mitch Gardner are the cre- ators of Pocket Points, an iPhone application gaining national and global atten- tion in recent weeks. When students turn the app on "class mode," it blocks the phone from function- ing, and users start receiv- ing points. The longer the phone is in class mode, the more points the student ac- cumulates. Points can then be redeemed at various Chico businesses. In the spring semes- ter of 2014, Richardson, a computer science ma- jor, approached Gardner, a business marketing ma- jor, with an idea for what would eventually become Pocket Points. Richardson spent the summer developing the app while Gardner went around signing up local businesses to offer deals on the app. The project launched on the CSU, Chico campus the week of Sept. 10, 2014. Now, the app has more than 22,000 downloads and has expanded to eight other schools including UC Berke- ley, Pennsylvania State Uni- versity and University of Ar- izona. Pocket Points has been featured in Time, The Chronicle of Higher Educa- tion, The Washington Post, the BBC's "Newsday" pro- gram and MTV. It has also found its way to the Apple App Store's "trending" list. Both Richardson and Gardner have taken a leave of absence from CSU, Chico to focus on the expansion of Pocket Points and to add team members to be able to manage it all. Pocket Points went from a two-person staff to a 20-person staff in less than a year. Richardson and Gardner are scheduled to come back to CSU, Chico in the fall. Alina Tichinin, an an- thropology major, has been using the app for a couple of months and used her points to get discounts and free food from Brooklyn Ba- gels and the campus Creek- side Café. "I really like it — you get free stuff for not using your phone," she said. "I don't use my phone a lot in class anyway so it was a great ex- tra incentive to not check my phone." Richardson and Gardner quickly realized they had a lot to learn about running a business and received sup- port and guidance from Da- vid Rahn, a professor in the College of Business. "He got us from an idea to launching a product," Gardner said. "We've never run a business before, we didn't know what a busi- ness plan even was and he really guided us. We would never be where we are right now without Da- vid Rahn." Now the two Wildcat en- trepreneurs are focusing on providing one of their most- requested features: an An- droid version. "We want to release it ASAP," Richardson said. "We know it's in high de- mand; we know everyone's requesting it." Another priority for Pocket Points is attracting national retailers and ex- panding to more schools. "We're definitely not just trying to work on lo- cal deals but bigger, na- tional retailers," Richard- son said. "Say we have Jamba Juice and get every store in the company, then we can launch at every school," Gardner said. For more information on Pocket Points, visit https:// pocketpoints.com/. CSU,CHICO Studentscreateincentiveto keep off phones during class COURTESYPHOTO TheRedBluffKiwanisClubWednesdaynamed Daniel Hurd, le , the Salisbury High School Student of the Quarter. Also nominated were Alexis Simpkins, not pictured, and Kyle Salazar, right. Also pictured is Kiwanis President Lisa Hansen. RED BLUFF KIWANIS Hurd named Salisbury Student of the Quarter Each month the Red Bluff Elks Lodge honors students grades 6 through 12 from the schools of Te- hama County. The recipients are treated to a buffet lunch and given a plaque to add to their portfolio. Each student delivered a nice speech thanking their parents and teachers and explained their future vo- cational goals. Everyone in attendance stated that the luncheon was a very rewarding ex- perience. ELKS LODGE Elementary and high school students honored COURTESY PHOTOS Elementary students, from le , are Pablo Valdez, Maywood Elementary School; Brianna Zotea, Berrendos School; Esmeralda Sanchez, Berrendos School; Aaron Hardy, Los Molinos Elementary School; Fletcher Bottke, Sacred Heart School; Abby Gantenbein, Vista Preparatory Academy; Jamie Machado, Vista Preparatory Academy; Cheyenne Pilger, Lassen View School and Maria Maldonado, Gerber School. High school students, from le , are Amber Utterback, Corning High School; Lina Gannon, Mercy High School; Rachel Rogers, Los Molinos High School; Jillian Strom, Red Bluff High School; Kylie Jepson, Salisbury High School and Jonathan Ruiz, Centennial High School. REDDING Celebrating 25 years of educating adult students, Simpson Univer- sity will host an ASPIRE Leaders Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, March 19. All ASPIRE alumni and current ASPIRE students are invited. Seating is lim- ited; tickets cost $10 and can be purchased online at simpsonu.edu/aspirelun- cheon. The luncheon will fea- ture guest speaker Dr. Tony Baron from Azusa Pacific Seminary in San Diego. Baron is an internation- ally recognized speaker, writer and consultant on the subject of creating ser- vant leaders. The author of six books, he also founded Servant Leadership Insti- tute, a think-tank on lead- ership development and transformation. Dr. Baron will speak on "Transformative Leader- ship: The Next Stage for Servant-Leaders." The event will be held in the J.D. Williams Suite in the Owen Student Ser- vices Center. Check-in is at 11:30 a.m. in the Owen Cen- ter lobby. "I'm excited that we have Dr. Baron to speak at our first ASPIRE Leaders Lun- cheon event," said Dr. John Burlison, dean of Adult Studies and online pro- grams. "His expertise and passion for servant lead- ership is inspirational. AS- PIRE students and alumni won't want to miss this op- portunity." The School of Adult Stud- ies has graduated nearly 3,500 North State adults since 1989. The program offers bachelor's degrees in business management, lib- eral studies, psychology and organizational leadership, with online and weeknight on-campus class options. For more information on ASPIRE, visit simpsonu. edu/aspire. Learn more about the luncheon at simp- sonu.edu/aspireluncheon. SIMPSON University to hold leaders luncheon PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. Thankyou! COURTESY PHOTO Rob Richardson and Mitch Gardner. www.backtoschoolproject.com Visit www.backtoschoolproject.com for available letters Music,Food,Awards,Raffles,SilentAuction SEATING IS LIMITED Sponsoryourfavorite Letter of the Alphabet for only $100 LETTERS STILL AVAILABLE Receive recognition in event program, web site, face book, on site & post event. 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