ProjectWA makes Palouse stops

Tim Fry and his wife, Kristine, pose with their children Henry, 9, and Ruby, 7, at the start of their two-month ProjectWA vacation this summer. The family has been traveling to historic sites throughout the state, documenting their trip online and with the Washington Insider App. Photos sent by Tim Fry.

Tim Fry poses in a St. Ignatius hospital gown at the building last week. He toured the building with Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory.

The Fry family stopped at Steptoe Butte at the suggestion of Valoree Gregory.

What started as a middle school project on Lopez Island is now making rounds across the state.

Students in Anthony Rovente's Northwest history class at Lopez Island Middle School developed a list of most endangered places in Washington for their assignment “ProjectWA.” They documented places and their respective histories, and subsequently created a smartphone application that is now educating people about Washington state history.

Rovente's class of five students developed the application with 468 Communications near Seattle, an organizations that specializes in creative storytelling and practical use of technology.

“ProjectWA has given me new perspective on so many things,” Tim Fry, president of 468 Communications, said in a statement to the Gazette. “First and foremost, I have such a greater appreciation for the individuals in every corner of our state who have made an impact not only to the region, but to the world. From helping establish early global trade to changing the course of world wars, the people of this state have punched above their weight with respect to world history.”

Fry assisted the students at Lopez Island Middle School with the project and developed the Washington State Insider app with the students through his company for smartphones and is now traveling around the state to these places, as well as other historical sites.

“Now it's time for me to go to school,” he wrote in a blog post June 14, located on the ProjectWA website. “For the next two months, my family and I will travel all around Washington state, checking out as many of the students' app locations as possible. We're also in search of other historic places, so we're inviting people to send us suggested locations for us to research and then incorporate into the Washington State Insider app.”

The project has now made it to the Palouse.

“I owe a lot to the students of Lopez Middle School, who really determined the route that my family and I are taking this summer,” Fry wrote to the Gazette. “It was their hard work that created the app that we and many others across Washington are using and building on.”

Fry and his family made stops in Colfax and Pullman and at Steptoe Butte and Palouse Falls last week. He documented the stop on the ProjectWA website, writing about his visit to the St. Ignatius Hospital building with Colfax Unified Executive Director Valoree Gregory.

“As I've visited dozens of small communities around the state, it's become clear that historic towns like Colfax aren't necessarily destined to be actual ghost towns,” he wrote. “Their historical assets – from haunted hospitals to train depots – can be mined and harvested just like the hills above Colville or the fields of the Palouse. All it takes is a bit of creativity, and maybe a somewhat twisted sense of humor.”

Gregory said she enjoyed the ProjectWA stop.

“He's the designer of the app, and it was great,” she said. “We had a great visit. They were here most of the day.”

The St. Ignatius Hospital is now documented on the Washington State Insider app, as is the Perkins House, LaCrosse rock houses, Palouse Falls, Marmes Rockshelter, Steptoe Butte and Washington State University, among many other places across the state.

Fry told the Gazette he sees apps such as this one impacting how people learn about the world.

“Finally, I have some thoughts on how mobile technology can and should play a role in helping us all learn more about the world around us,” he said. “Pokémon Go has launched while we've been traveling around the state. I've seen lots of people walking around communities staring at their phones. While I think the game has helped get people out and about, I'm not sure it's moving things in the right direction, because those people aren't necessarily engaging more in the real world. My intention with the Washington State Insider app is to give people incentives to explore and engage more with the people and places around them.”

Individuals can use the app to learn about the places and collect points along the way. Once a user collects 10 points, the points can be used for a $2 discount at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma. Additionally, 468 Communications donates $1 for every point collected to go toward the purchase of new Washington State History textbooks for the Lopez Island School District.

The Washington State Insider app is available on Android and iPhones, and it is free for anybody to download.

projectwa.org.