G.W. Carver High School Students Win $10K Award for App Created to Help Prevent Gun Violence

These students are taking a worldwide issue and making steps toward change.

Twelve students and the Academy of Engineering teacher Justin Sanders at George Washington Carver High School, received a $10,000 award. The money will be used towards the advancement of their app, which has provided a platform for students to connect with peers based on common interests, in an effort to prevent gun violence.

According to The Birmingham Times, the students won the funds through a competition hosted by Altec Industries where they worked on the development of an app called NeXsim.

NeXsim, meaning “connected together,” pairs students with various groups they can create and engage with based on activities they are interested in. The development of the app merges the students’ efforts to get more students involved in school activities and to reduce the chances of them being involved in gun violence.

“[I’ve started] coming out of my shell and being more comfortable and speaking to people…and it’s really just made me gain more confidence in myself,” senior Ashley Pender said.

“We noticed that [a large percentage] of African American males get in violent crimes and stuff of that sort because they don’t have anything to do, and various political leaders across the country said the same thing,” senior Ariyan Riggs said.

Inspiration for the app also came from the four students the school lost to gun violence over the past two years.

“I know it has affected the school a lot, and that’s why the app was important,” Rafael Avelino, another senior who worked on the project, said.

The students presented research and a mock-up of their idea for NeXsim as participants of the Altec Innovation Challenge competition. The team sourced from local news sources, reducing violence experts, and their own surveys.

The students’ app provides a calendar for upcoming events and a space to share pictures and comments from past events.

The Birmingham high school is partnering with Ed Farm, an Apple-backed technology education initiative that has committed to provide virtual programming sessions three to four times a week.

According to Sanders, plans for the app include an official launch of the software on the Apple App Store by the end of spring semester 2023.