Lafayette High Student Recognized Nationally for Creating App to Send Out School Alerts Easily

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - It's more important now more than ever that school administrators can send out alerts to large groups of people as easy as possible. From bomb threats to school shootings, it's imperative that those leading our schools can communicate efficiently and effectively to teachers, students, and parents who are under stress during anxiety-filled moments.

We all remember the recent threats made against Lafayette High School that caused lockdowns and a lot of stress. Other schools across Acadiana and Louisiana have dealt with hoax threats as well. One Lafayette High School student has decided to do something about bridging the communication gap.

When deciding to participate in the Congressional App Challenge - which is a nationwide effort that allows students to compete against their peers by creating an application or "app" for mobile, tablet, or computer devices - Isaac Beverly created "NotifyPub."

I was inspired to create this app by multiple sources. Before participating in the Congressional App Challenge, I discovered the RSS protocol, which standardizes a way for keeping track of updates to websites,” said Isaac Beverly. “Around the same time, I learned of the problems that my school was facing in trying to notify many students and staff of urgent information. Upon learning of this year’s iteration of the Congressional App Challenge, I decided to provide a solution using RSS.”

Isaac says his "NotifyPub" addresses the need LHS and other school have: an easy way for school administrators to send out alerts to large groups.

(Watch Isaac demonstrate his “NotifyPub” app below.)

Today, Isaac was announced as the overall winner of the 2022 Congressional App Competition for Louisiana’s 3rd District.

I want to congratulate Isaac on his winning app,” said 3rd District Congressman Clay Higgins. “It is great to see him use his coding skills to help school administrators and his fellow students by developing solutions to a real-world problem. This year had a high level of competition and was a tough choice for our judges.”

The U.S. House of Representatives officially launched the Challenge in 2015 to help inspire innovation and learning in computer science and coding. Student teams compete against each other by congressional district, and the winning apps are showcased at the U.S. Capitol each year.