App Developed By High School Grad Offers Incentives For Going To Class, Being On Time

CARSON (CBSLA.com) — A local high school graduate has developed a mobile app that's rewarding students who go to class regularly and get there on time.

The Snap2School app was created by Lamar Walker as a way to entice students to go to school by tapping into their love of technology and, frankly, free stuff.

The app awards attendance all-stars like Meisha Johnson from Carson High School, who won Disneyland passes.

Students who use the app are only required to show up to school and check-in on the mobile app.

Once they do, they're entered for a chance to win small prizes daily and bigger items every few weeks.

Walker raises money to buy the prizes but says the real reward is "academics."

He said the app is "an incentive to get them to wake up and say, 'You know what? I'm going to school today to get that 4.0 but also to get the Disneyland tickets, or those concert tickets as well.' "

The need is real, according to a 2013 state study, which found that nearly 1 million California elementary students are considered truant each year.

Snap2School now has 8,000 students participating at 34 schools in Southern California.

Walker hopes to launch the next step for the mobile app, which will be to encourage kids to share notes and study together, within the next few months.