By Michelle Durham

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Now in its 6th year, the technology symposium at Temple University Thursday was hosted by State Senator LeAnna Washington. Her audience was high school students from Philadelphia Public High and Charter schools.

Senator Washington unveiled a new app that will be up and running by the end of October in which her constituents can use to have direct contact with her office.

The app was developed by a group of Philadelphia High School students and she explains why it’s so important to expose teens to technology.

“We want particularly these young people to know there is more they can do with those hand-held machines besides play those terror games.”

George Washington Carver High School sophomore Francisco Castellanos was one of those students who worked on the Senator’s Apps. He says it was labor intensive.

“Every weekend, the whole summer, every day 8 hours, just making apps.”

The event is designed to attract students already interested in science and math to consider careers in this field. Officials in Temple’s Engineering program are hoping many will consider their university.

Students will break into groups including Hovercraft, Robotics, Music Technology and more.