A group of students at The Cushman School are thrilled with the results of an after-school program they participated in last semester.

The students – in grades four through eight, took part in an App Club, created by Cushman Head of School Arvi Balseiro and parent/software engineer Marty Schultz. The outcome: “WishToList”, an iPhone/iPad/iPod application designed by kids for kids, currently available for free download on iTunes.

“Our goal was to put together children of different ages with different ideas to develop creative solutions that led to a marketable product,” explained Balseiro.

Schultz, 57, is author of the McGruff Safeguard Parental Control software and several other software ventures. He and his family moved to Miami Beach from Boston in 2003.

When Schultz’s daughter, Mariel, a sixth-grader at Cushman, came up with an ever-changing list of gift ideas for her birthday last November, Schultz said to himself, “There ought to be an app for that”.

Together, he and Balseiro created the after-school App Club, which met three times a week (an hour each) for seven weeks. Twelve students attended regularly; 18 participated on some level.

“The students were instrumental in providing me with insights into their view of apps and I provided them the experience and understanding of what it takes to design, build and test an app,” said Schultz.

After multiple modifications based on the students’ input, Schultz submitted the app to the iTunes App Store. It was approved in early January.

"The hardest part was working out all the "bugs" that could crash the App. Now seeing something we all created on iTunes with our name on it is really cool!" said fifth-grader Zach Fotiadis.

As a result of the positive after-school experience, Schultz is now teaching a computer science class to Cushman middle school students about how to write a computer program by creating their own video games.

The Cushman School, 592 NE 60th Street in Miami, is a private school serving nursery through eight grades.

For app info, visit www.WishToList.com.

JEWELER LOVES VALENTINES DAY

Candice Wolfson loves Valentines Day. The Miami Beach resident, owner of Wolfson & Company Jewelry in Miami is preparing for the holiday (Thursday, Feb. 14) by encouraging clients (and prospective clients) to sell her their jewelry (for cash) or to buy wholesale diamonds from her for their loved ones.

Wolfson, 42, grew up in Miami. After Palmetto High School, she attended George Washington University and then earned a graduate degree in Decorative Arts from Christie’s Auction House in London. Wolfson originally planned to be an art dealer, but switched gears after deciding “jewelry has more intrinsic value than art and is easier to ship than paintings”.

After working in the fine jewelry departments of Sotheby’s and Christie’s and training at New York’s Tiffany and Co. in the early 90’s, Wolfson served as an assistant to “jeweler-to-the-stars” Fred Leighton (1994-96), dealing with high-profile clients including Yoko Ono, Elton John and (Revlon chairman) Ron Perelman.

In 1996, she opened her own jewelry business in New York City. Upon moving to Miami Beach in 2002, she created Wolfson & Company, specializing in wholesale GIA certified diamonds, platinum engagement rings and eternity bands. It’s located at 169 E. Flagler St., Suite 1000 (Alfred I. Dupont building) in downtown Miami, where she shares space with fifth-generation jewelers Charles Kaufman Enterprises and MSI Diamond Dealers (by appointment only).