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Isfeld students help design app for school announcements

Anotiv filters the announcements for each student

Elanor Bukach

Student intern

Isfeld student Matthew Black and the rest of Anotiv Team are tackling communication issues between students and teachers at local high schools including Highland and Vanier in the Comox Valley, as well as Timberline in Campbell River.

Anotiv, created as part of the Destination Imagination program, is an app that serves as a replacement for traditional announcements, and as a method of organization and communication between school members.

“We saw a major problem at schools where students didn’t listen to the announcements,” said Black. “So we decided to engage students and what better way to engage students than on their phones?”

Anotiv filters the announcements for each student, so a Grade 8 student will never receive a notification meant for a Grade 12 student.

“The reason we went with the idea for Anotiv is that we saw that it was a major problem at schools,” notes Black. “And while we saw other problems in the community we didn’t think we could address (those issues) as well as we could something that was so close to us.”

Five months after its start, Anotiv was released on Feb. 12, after five months of planning and designing.

The Destination Imagination Global Finals are being held in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 25, and the Anotiv Team is fundraising in order to represent Canada and the Comox Valley on the global stage. Although initially a Destination Imagination project, Black is intending to use this start-up to pursue a business in the near future. Along with its use in the education system, Black believes that Anotiv could be equally as valuable for companies or non-profit organizations.

Donations can be made to help send the Anotiv Team to Global Finals on the team’s website at anotiv.com