C.A.S.E Studies
Online Stag Ordering
Standing in line to order food at Stag in grades 8 and 9 gave Owen a lot of time to think. “There has to be a better way!” Owen’s thinking got him round to the idea of an app for this popular after-prep food service. He shared his idea with Mr. Dukelow, the leader of the entrepreneurship class that runs the Stag Café.
Mr. Dukelow encouraged Owen to research the possibilities and the idea for the OSO (Online Stag Ordering) came into being. Owen was invited to several entrepreneurship classes to float the idea, but it did not take off. So, taking matters into his own hands, he developed the app himself. “The original app,” he says, “linked to google sheets, but over the years, I’ve created a server, app, website and ordering system.”
Knowing the café business from the inside was important to Owen. He joined Entrepreneurship class in his grade 11 year and worked alongside his classmates to produce the great food Stag Café is famous for.
Developing a better system to deliver this food has been a long road, with countless hours spent working with a software developer and studying YouTube videos (hours that many of his teachers wished he has spent on course work), but it has all paid off with a product almost ready to plug in.
Owen built the server box in woodwork, and over the summer invested in the hardware to fill it. “It took over 100 hours of reading manuals and tutorials to build the server over this last summer break, and many more hours again of testing and failed attempts.”
Like so many innovators, Owen had to fight for his project. He was encouraged by and adult mentor (Mr. Dukelow in this case) and funded by his family (a debt he is determined to pay back). Owen sees this as his legacy or gift to the School. Mr. Dukelow has promised in return free Stag Café meal for life.
Owen is waiting in great anticipation to hook his masterpiece into the master Shawnigan server so that online ordering will be possible.
Moving forward, Owen sees more possibilities. Parents ordering from home for kids and developing a Stag Café credit card that could be pre-loaded and used for online payment.
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Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
