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Congressional App Challenge Coalition Recognizes Winners of the First House App Contest

Inaugural Contest Year Exceeds Wildest Expectations for Students and Member Participation

Washington, DC — The Congressional App Challenge Coalition congratulates the winners and competitors in the first-ever House Student App Challenge. Starting in January 2014, over one-third of all House Members challenged high school students in their districts to enter a competition to create a software application (or “app”) for mobile, tablet, or other computing devices.

Members of Congress have started announcing winners in their districts over the past several weeks. We have aggregated a snapshot of some enthusiastic Members sharing the results of their respective competitions on social media here. We have also compiled some YouTube videos of these amazing and inspiring student App Challenge winners here.

The Congressional App Challenge Coalition urges the Internet community and those who believe in the importance of STEM and coding to highlight the accomplishments of these young programmers and to acknowledge the leadership of the Members of Congress who inspired them.

Tweet: Inspired by the work of students across the nation who took part in @congapps challenge. Here's a sampling: http://ctt.ec/YcG01+

The House Student App Challenge is designed to inspire student creativity and encourage participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education fields in order to address America's need to develop a domestic pipeline of STEM and computer programming talent, and thus fill critical roles in the information economy. Modeled after the Congressional Art Competition, the App Challenge was authorized by the House of Representatives in 2013 via an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 411 to 3. The inaugural App Contest started on February 1 of this year and ended in May. Throughout the competition, participating students were provided opportunities to engage with various STEM educational partners, located within their own communities, to mentor and assist them with their app development.

The House Committee on Administration, chaired by Congresswoman Candice Miller, administered the competition. Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Internet Caucus, also serve as inaugural competition co-chairs.

The App Challenge Coalition applauds the Members of Congress who supported students in this initiative to help future American STEM workers compete and succeed in the global economy. We have created a clearinghouse of participating Districts (by member) and their winners at www.congressionalappchallenge.us/members-of-congress/. Some of the initial winning apps include:

  • “Bakround Noise,” which allows users to upload audio files and organize them by mood;
  • “Trext,” which informs parents of their children’s whereabouts;
  • “State Puzzles,” which allows people to learn about digital encryption and decryption;
  • “Runbow,” a mobile phone game; and
  • “Pocket Einstein,” which teaches students math and science.

For additional information, please email [email protected] or call Tim Lordan at +1 202-638-4370.

About the Congressional App Challenge Coalition

The Congressional App Challenge Coalition proudly serves as the official STEM advisor to the House of Representatives’ House App Contest. We applaud the leaders of the House of Representatives who have pledged to inspire students in their districts by hosting Congressional App Challenges. We encourage you to join them as they challenge students to compete against each other in app design and programming, and to provide Members of Congress the opportunity to encourage and recognize the technical and creative talents of their young constituents. 2014 Sponsors include Samsung and Amazon Web Services. Founding Sponsors include AT&T, BlackBerry, Entertainment Software Association, Google, and Motorola.

CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE COALITION 2014 SPONSORS

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Congressional App Challenge Coalition
1634 I Street NW – Suite 1100 – Washington, DC 20006
www.congressionalappchallenge.us/
Find us on Twitter, #HouseAppChallenge