Four years ago, Principal Wilson saw other schools using Trivory and decided to give it a try. “It’s been working wonders for us ever since,” he says. Today, 95% of students and all staff at Benson Tech regularly use the app, and Wilson can't imagine the school running without it. “Trivory is like a one-stop shopping mechanism for our students. It’s the app for everything that happens in our building.”
Before adopting Trivory, Benson Tech relied heavily on daily announcements read aloud by teachers, physical posters, and various social media posts. But these methods weren't as effective as they needed to be. Wilson noted, “Now that the same information is accessible through Trivory on your phone, our announcement period feels like old-school stuff. We’ve got to catch up with the times.” He added, “We don’t get into issues with people not knowing things because I always tell them to ‘just check Trivory.’”
Wilson especially values Trivory’s central calendar, which provides a single, reliable source of information for the entire school. He finds it particularly helpful that the calendar automatically incorporates the OSAA athletic schedule and MaiaLearning college visit calendar, along with Benson Tech’s daily bell schedules. Recently, when Benson had a special assembly schedule, Wilson updated it in Trivory and immediately alerted students and staff. “The Trivory calendar makes it easy to keep everyone on the same page in real-time,” Wilson noted.
To help the app catch on quickly, Wilson gave access to his secretaries, vice principals, athletic director, and other key staff. Within a year or two, Trivory was essential. “It became evident quickly that if you’re not using Trivory, you have no idea what's happening at Benson Tech,” Wilson emphasized.
Wilson believes Trivory stands apart because it simply does more. “The Trivory app does so much for us now. Remind and Instagram don’t do all of that,” he explained. He pointed out that students prefer Trivory. "A lot of our students don't read Remind as compared to our parents and guardians, so when I want to reach students, I go to Trivory first.” Wilson also highlighted that unlike social media platforms, Trivory doesn't require moderation of comments, which simplifies communication. He emphasized, “To have that instant communication with our students is critical,” and added that including images helps make posts more engaging to students.
Because of Trivory, Benson Tech doesn't create as many physical posters throughout the school year. Now, all announcements and the majority of posters appear exclusively on Trivory and about 100 flat-screens around campus, ensuring every student stays informed.
Even with Benson Tech’s tight annual budget, Wilson sees Trivory as essential. “At first, we weren’t sure it was worth the cost, but once I saw the usage analytics, I knew we were locked in,” he explained. “It’s something we’re not going to negotiate on. Trivory is here to stay at Benson Tech.”