Who said teens with smartphones will lead to trouble? Maybe they’re just well organized.
WW-P high school students now have a techy way to stay up on their schedules thanks to Rishi Narang, South’s Class of 2011 salutatorian, who developed a new application — myPlanner for Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod — that will help manage students’ class schedules that follow the district’s rotating eight-day cycle.
Because of WW-P’s schedule format, weekly class schedules never look the same. Currently high schoolers are given a printed schedule with different blocks: A, B, C, D, etc. Students refer to this as their agenda, but Narang says due to this method most kids go to school without an outline of the day’s activities.
“It becomes hard to make a note of what day it is on your schedule and keep track of your classwork and assignments,” he said.
The specific need Narang tried to address with the myPlanner app is a remedy for kids forgetting where they are supposed to be. He observed that students used their agendas rarely if at all, saying that after the first few weeks of classes in September students didn’t feel a need to keep the print copy handy. Narang says students are using the paper agendas less and less.
“In my case I didn’t use my agenda because I was always more into using technology. I kept notes on my phone and computer, but I didn’t actually write stuff down on my agenda. I think that’s the case for a lot of people. I know at least for me, when I would get my agenda in September, I wouldn’t see it until cleaning out my backpack in June,” he says.
He also knows that because the system isn’t working the district may do away with agendas altogether.
“There’s a possibility that the district won’t be providing agendas to their students either next year, or sometime in the coming years,” he said.
Narang saw integrating gadgets as the natural solution, saying that everyone at school has a mobile device, and the percentage with iPhones always keeps the device with them. He saw it being less and less of a niche market at South and other schools, so he went about designing a product for Apple’s signature device.
“There are iPhone apps that allow you to keep track of your homework, but there is nothing specifically tailored to students’ schools that is based on their schedule. Using the application students will have pre-programmed information on what their day of classes looks like and what their weeks or months ahead will be, allowing for better planning and preparation,” he says.
Narang and the school district believe the app can help manage the problem. When a user opens the app the first thing it tells them is whether today is an A, B, C, or D day or even if it’s a holiday or half-day. Students can also plan ahead in their school year with an interactive calendar feature.
“A student in our district can look at the app today and find out say, three months from now, what classes he’ll be missing when he’s absent for a doctor’s appointment. Or, he can use myPlanner to see what homework he has to do for the classes that he has tomorrow, as opposed to another app, where he might get a list of all assignments for all classes,” Narang says.
“Say I know I’m going to miss class two weeks from today. I can look to see what classes I will have that day and then go talk to those teachers,” Narang said.
Students will also be able to add course work and assignments on the application to remind them of when certain things are due.
Narang hopes to expand the application to offerings for other smartphones in the near future. The app was designed specifically with students in mind, though teachers could use it too because they maintain similar schedules.
Narang said one user-friendly feature eliminates the need for students to spend much time setting it up, as it only requires them to enter the A day class schedule information. Throughout the rest of the year the application gets information from an online server that Narang’s computer science teacher has at High School South.
Narang worked on the app as an independent study project under the guidance of Brandon Horn in the computer science department. He continued going with the project well after he graduated from South, finishing it up in early August. Consider it a parting gift to his alma mater.
“Back in February the idea came up because I was basically thinking about what do kids need? I was also thinking about doing something for the high school,” he says.
Two months ago Narang E-mailed Horn to let him know the app was complete. Horn in turn E-mailed faculty members who were interested in the application. Word of mouth then spread the news quickly and the district hierarchy took notice.
Narang’s mom, South guidance counselor Neeru Narang, spread the word about her son’s product among other counselors and administrators. Soon the young alum met with people in the district that helped to publicize the app. But the marketing was semi-built-in as Narang already had the attention of the rank and file at South.
“A lot of it was word of mouth definitely. I had a lot of my friends who are younger than me talk about how they would use it. Everyone thought the app was really helpful, which I was really happy about.”
Fitting for a creation to be used by today’s youth, Facebook helped build a buzz as students headed into the school year. From September onwards Narang says that Gerri Hutner, the school district’s director of communications, also proactively put the word out on the district website.
In the summer of 2010 Narang completed a technology course where he learned programming for the iPhone and ios applications in general. Narang’s mentor that summer, Angel Irizarry, was a graduate of MIT’s 5-year computer science program. He taught Narang much about computer programming and also how to work with a team in the app-building process.
“Since I met him I kept in touch, months and months after the program finished, and we’re still really close. I owe a lot to him,” Narang said.
Another person in Narang’s life who piqued his interests in computer science was his father, Pradeep Narang, who died in 2009. He had majored in computer science before going on to a career with JP Morgan Chase. “He was always really big on technology and getting the most current things, and he definitely kept me in that pipeline,” Narang said.
Narang attended Grover Middle School before High School South. He has one sibling: an older sister Pareesha, a 2006 graduate of South, who earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism, Asian American studies, and family science from the University of Maryland in 2010.
Narang was not yet one year old when the family moved to West Windsor from Somerset. Before her children were born Neeru Narang worked as a nutritionist in Maryland. She later became a stay-at-home mom before earning a graduate master’s in counseling and pursuing a role in a school system. Neeru Narang is the first Indian counselor in the WW-P district and one of the first in the state.
Rishi now attends Princeton University, majoring in computer science. He’s also taken a keen interest in economics. Despite remaining close to home Narang has gained some global and cultural awareness as the family has taken trips to India biannually during summer vacations. He does balk at the notion of being a teen entrepreneur, maintaining a career focus. “Basically what I want to do is have a job programming and coding and be a software engineer,” he said.
Narang has been known to “serve up” more than just computer software. While he was a budding Novak Djokovic at South, cruising in shutout wins against Hamilton and Hightstown back in May, Narang said he will begin playing club tennis at the university soon after he rehabs a shoulder injury.
Narang is not yet planning to turn a profit on the application, which is currently available for free through the iTunes store. He does have his sights on expanding in the summer of 2012.
“Right now it’s only for High Schools North and South but I’m looking at expanding into more schools in New Jersey. Once the user base grows I would consider selling the app for a dollar per download,” Narang said.
