BlockStatus wins Rep. Katherine Clark’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Massachusetts’s Fifth District

When asked what inspired the creation of BlockStatus, the student said, “There’s a lot to navigate in high school life these days. In a large public school like mine, there is a lot to manage every day: The class schedule changes daily, there are important announcements to keep track of, it’s unclear what time you have lunch, and coordinating with your friends can be a challenge. I wanted to create an app that would be helpful to students at my high school, and I saw an opportunity to do so with BlockStatus.

I realized that many students frequently wanted to check their schedules, the school announcements and figure out whether their classes were canceled, but it wasn’t convenient for them to do so. You had to hop through many websites with tiny font sizes that weren’t optimized for mobile devices. Most students went through the process anyway because this information was essential to the school day. The bell schedule changes daily, and the school loudspeaker system has problems, so only half the school can hear morning announcements.

I thought that if I created an app that was a quick all-in-one schedule & information center, people could save some time and be more informed. When I was working on early versions of the app, I didn’t realize the potential the idea had. In the spring, I was beta testing the app and many of my friends asked me what app I was using to see the schedule. I set up the app for them and later made it open to everyone in the school. Within the first week, 100 students signed up. Since then, I’ve added many more features based on user feedback, and over 1,200 people have used the app (80% of the students currently in the school). Having so many of my peers being able to benefit from my work continues to inspire me to make the app more accessible and useful.”