SOMERSET, Wis. (WFLA) — In the wake of the deadly mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, a student in Wisconsin is hard at work trying to make classrooms safer.
Justin Rivard is a senior at Somerset High School. He says he was inspired in a shop class to try to save lives.
“I call this the JustinKase,” he said, talking about his invention.
The JustinKase is made of steel plates and connecting rods, according to NBC affiliate KARE. The device slides under a classroom door and latches on so the door can’t be opened.
“You close the door, and this is right next to the door,” Rivard said, displaying how it works.
Rivard told KARE he has not yet found a person who can push open a door that’s equipped with the JustinKase. He’s even tested it against linemen from his school’s football team.
“You can lock a door with a lock, it can get shot out. You can lock a door with this, it can’t get shot out,” Rivard said. “You can’t get around it.”
Rivard’s principal, Shannon Donnelly, ordered 50 of the devices last fall – one for every classroom in the school. She even keeps one under her desk.
“We started with the high school, then went to the middle school, then the elementary school,” Donnelly said. “He truly believes this is going to save lives.”
Rivard says the Grantsburg School District, about an hour away from Somerset, ordered 40 JustinKases for their high school. There are already 54 in place in the district’s middle and elementary schools.
Eric Olson, the technology and engineering teacher at Somerset High School, says he’s not surprised by Rivard’s invention.
“He’s the special combination of motivation and brains and has a motor that just keeps going,” Olson said.
Rivard says the idea came to him months before the shooting in Parkland, when he noticed the weakness of his classroom doors. And with just a few months left of high school, he wanted to leave an impact on his school.
“My impact is in every room,” he said.
Rivard is selling the JustinKase online for $95. He says he’s awaiting approval for a patent.
After he graduates this spring, Rivard says he plans on turning his business over to his father so he can begin serving his country in the Army starting in July.