As a teacher at Sheridan High School, Adam Metcalf got to know some remarkable kids.
Big standardized tests were a breeze for some, but many were overcoming significant personal obstacles or learning differences just to make it to graduation. They had inspirational stories and never-give-up attitudes, but, often, less-than-stellar test scores.
And yet those test scores often determined their options – or lack thereof – for life after high school.
“A lot of my students had unique stories to share,” he said. “I wanted to celebrate the stories of those students to help college admissions people see their value, even if their test scores weren’t stellar.”
So, in 2013, he and a team of three other friends came up with ZeeMee (a clever twist on “see me,”) a free app that allows students to share videos with colleges in the application process, with the goal of helping students be seen as more than the sum of their test scores.