As the new school year starts up and sports games, pep rallies, and musicals begin dotting the calendar, the new Red Devil Nation app, which launched on Aug. 16, offers a convenient medium for the student body to know about, manage, and attend events.

The free app was created over the summer by Activities Director Mrs. Sally Phillip and Athletic Director Mr. Dan Jones, who worked together with SuperfanU, an app development company. It was created as a way to increase student awareness and turnout at less often attended events.

“We wanted to find some way to create some more excitement around things other than football games and boys basketball games,” Mrs. Phillip said. “What we have found out through our work with other schools is that this helps, and it gives an incentive for kids to come.”

The app contains a series of features designed to promote student attendance and participation. Once downloaded, the user can access a list of the dates, times, and places of all school events scheduled from now until May 2018. Listed events range from varsity football games to the homecoming float building.

“It’s really helpful to be able to see what time each event is so that I don’t have to look at a million different resources and websites to know when things are starting,” said Rachel Thompson, sophomore.

If you attend an event listed on the app, you can “check in” and will be awarded points, which you can later cash in for prizes. You can win anything from lanyards and t-shirts to school parking spots.  

Other features include access to the activities social feed, a leadership board to see which students have the most points, and a “Fan Cam” where you can upload pictures from events.

“I think it’s a great way for students to be actively involved with all sporting events and show school spirit,” said Joey Sullivan, junior and currently atop the RDN leadership board. “Because of the app, I’ve for sure attended more events than I normally would’ve in the past.”

Though increasing student attendance was an objective kept in mind while creating the app, it wasn’t the main focus.

“We want things to be like it’s not just about playing one school one rival, it’s about supporting your friends and the student body,” Mrs. Phillip said.

The RDN application is available for free in the iOS and Android app stores, and the next opportunity to earn points is the boys varsity soccer game on Friday, Sept. 1.