Thornwood student’s app idea fights procrastination, wins prize

Teens can be avid procrastinators, but Ariana Whitaker is one who has decided to do something about it. She created a rewards-based app that helps students focus on their studies and boost their productivity.

Called DigiPlan, the phone app personalizes students’ schedules and can motivate them to get down to work, offering rewards such as gift cards as they complete assignments.

Whitaker’s business plan started out as an assignment in a Principles of Entrepreneurship elective class at Thornwood High School in South Holland.

“Me and my friends procrastinate a lot and I was thinking late at night if I had something that would help with my procrastination,” she said. “My idea was more to create scheduling and organization and help with self-discipline, so to do that it would shut down any social media.”

Her class submitted their ideas to the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Midwest Entrepreneurship Challenge where Whitaker, who lives in South Holland with her family, won the first place award, which included a $1,500 prize. Second place went to Raahi Pachbhai from St. Louis Science Center in Missouri and third place to Tywon Barber from Beloit Memorial High School in Wisconsin.

Whitaker’s classmate Jaylin Metcalfe, who just graduated from Thornwood, won the Fast Pitch People’s Choice Award, which came with a $250 prize, for an app he developed called Black Women Support, a program that offers resources, safety protocols and other information in an effort to fight human trafficking.

The next step for Whitaker is to bring her idea to the NFTE national competition in October in New York.

She said she would find the app useful — at least when she needs to finish up some work.

“When I’m doing an assignment, that’s something I would want,” said Whitaker, a rising junior who also is in Thornwood’s Speech Club. She loves math and other business classes, and when she needed help with her project, she was able to turn to family members who have engineering experience.

Being an entrepreneur “requires creativity, and I think that helps me problem-solve and work with other people,” Whitaker said.

But she’s not done yet. She hopes to find investors who would help sell her app to schools or other organizations.

Thornwood Principal Don Holmes called her an “outstanding student.”

“Arianna Whitaker is a straight-A scholar and a creative business-minded student who cares about her community,” Holmes said. “We are proud of her accomplishments through the NFTE program, and look forward to continuing to provide support, encouragement, guidance and opportunities that extend beyond the brick and mortar of Thornwood High School, that allow her to flourish.”

Her parents are also very proud of their daughter’s accomplishments.

Clarice Whitaker, her mom, said Whitaker loves to learn.

“Ariana has always been an outstanding student, but I’m surprised at the depth of how far things have gone,” she said, noting her daughter “always wants to be a leader,” but also shows compassion.

“She’s the most empathetic. If one of her sisters gets in trouble, she’ll try to come to me and say, ‘maybe we should try something different,’” Clarice Whitaker said.

That compassion and empathy were evident in Whitaker’s app idea, according to a news release from contest sponsor NFTE.

“These young entrepreneurs are not only creating innovative ideas to solve complex problems, but they are also extremely passionate about improving their local communities, which makes us so proud of them, their teachers and families,” said Scott Nasatir, the organization’s Midwest executive director.

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.