Usually, words such as geography and filtration inspire more snoozes than “ooohs” in the minds of high school students, but that soon may not be the case. The TJHSST Class of 2019 is sponsoring a design competition to create a TJ -themed geofilter on Snapchat, a popular social media app where users can send 10-second images and videos to one another before they disappear.

“TJ’s used different social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and so on to promote school pride and unity in the classes,” freshman Mijin Cho said. “This time, we decided to use Snapchat.”

On Jan 23, members of the 2019 Class Council announced the competition on Facebook. It is open to all Jefferson students with only a handful of rules and requirements with the winner receiving a $15 Amazon gift card.

“The only thing required in the Snapchat geofilter [are the words] ‘TJHSST’ and the regulations set by snapchat,” Cho said.

“From the submitted designs, 2019 Class Council will select all appropriate ones and they will be uploaded to a poll on Ion which will be set up in split approval multiple choice fashion,” freshman Aaraj Vij said. “At the end of the voting period, 2019 Council will go through the steps of submitting the winning geofilter to Snapchat.”

Snapchat is a popular social messaging tool among Jefferson students for its simplicity and wide range of uses.

“Snapchat’s great because it’s extremely versatile,” Vij said. “Some students use it to share moments of their lives with others, while others just use it to joke around with friends, sending selfies and so on.”

“The concept is unique and it’s really convenient for taking pictures and sharing them, especially when you want to draw on those pictures,” sophomore Kavya Kopparapu said. “I use it mainly just for viewing my friend’s stories and holding conversations based on anything interesting.”

“It’s fun to update my friends on whatever weird is happening in our lives, and if i’m eating good food, I send it to my friends to make them jealous,” senior Jenny Zhu said. “You see small tidbits of people’s lives and you get to communicate without typing; it’s really cute.”

Many students are happy TJ is finally getting a school-themed geofilter.

“I know a bunch of other high schools who have their own geofilters, so it’s about time!” said Kopparapu.