Ripon High School

When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Ripon High School’s school year, including the cancellation of athletic events, they adapted how they used their SuperFan app so they could continually engage their students and community.

Without in-person events, Ripon High School turned to virtual days to maintain interaction. These included Spirit Days every Friday, monthly College Days, and completely virtual Spirit Weeks. During these events, people were encouraged to check-in on their app and to upload images showing their spirit with the Fan Cam feature. Bonus points were given for photo submissions and prizes were awarded for those who went above and beyond to show their spirit.

The school also regularly posted videos on social media announcing news and upcoming events. After a video was posted, a fan poll was sent to app users via push notification that offered a trivia question. The questions were based on content from the last video. Points were rewarded for a correct answer, which created an initiative for people to watch the latest video. Later, a graphic was posted with the correct poll answer and how many people had guessed right.

Another adaptation Ripon High School used involved virtual meetings. Due to the pandemic, Booster Club meetings couldn’t be held in person. To help track who was attending meetings, they were added as events on their app. Using SuperFan’s QR code check-in system, attendees checked in remotely. This method allowed them to track attendance, but also made sure only members earned points by checking in.

Ripon wanted to create a fun, safe activity that students and members of the community could enjoy together, so they started holding scavenger hunts. Teams were asked to solve clues which led them to a specific location in town. To determine whether they were in the right place, teams tried to check-in at the site using the Ripon High School app. If they were able to check-in, they could move onto the next clue. Besides providing fun, scavenger hunts also let people become accustomed to using the app.

Using their SuperFan app, Ripon High School was able to creatively find ways to engage their fans despite not having typical events such as athletics. Even without in-person events, they were able to increase check-ins per event by 24% during the 2020-2021 school year compared to 2019-2020.