Congressional App Challenge Overview

What is Congressional App Challenge

Leaders from the Internet Education Foundation and the U.S. House of Representatives came up with the idea for the Congressional App Challenge (CAC) in 2013. The House Resolution 77-Academic Competition Resolution of 2013 established this competition, which sought to promote an appreciation for STEM and computer science. House Representatives hold an app challenge in their districts in accordance with this resolution. The purpose of this competition is to give participants a chance to promote and demonstrate their apps. Although each challenge is district-specific, the winners are all acknowledged by the public, and their applications can be displayed for a year in the US Capitol.

In order to stimulate students’ creativity and promote their involvement in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education, the Congressional App Challenge was created. High school students countrywide can compete against their peers by developing and showcasing their software program, or “app,” for computers, tablets, or mobile devices on a platform of their choosing in this national competition.

The Internet Education Foundation (IEF), the challenge’s sponsor, helps offices host the Congressional App Challenge in their respective districts. More information is available on the Congressional App Challenge website for those who are interested in taking part.

The House App Contest, also called the Congressional App Challenge or the Congressional Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Academic Competition, is an annual application software creation competition open to middle and high school students in participating congressional districts.

Eligibility Criteria for the Challenge

Students in middle and high school who are citizens or legal residents of the United States and who live in a congressional district that is taking part in the competition are eligible to enter the Congressional App Challenge. You can ask your Congressional representative to participate the competition by sending them a form if your district isn’t taking part or hasn’t previously presented!

Students must have a teacher, mentor, or supervisor who can offer direction and help during the app development process. They can work alone or in groups of up to four. As a result of registering for your congressional district, you or your team must have at least half of its members be residents or students in that district. Students of all skill levels—from novices to expert programmers—can enter the tournament, and there are no fees or costs involved.

AGE: Students on October 24, 2024, must be enrolled in middle or high school.

LOCATION: Only students who are participating in an App-hosted Congressional District may compete.

• Difficulty. Students can participate in competitions in their home district or the district they attend.
• School, Only one district may be used for competition.

TEAMS: consisting of no more than four (4) students or individuals may compete.

• No team consisting of more than four (4) students is allowed to compete.
• Any squad must have at least half of its players reside or attend school in the 9th District of North Carolina.

PRIOR PROJECTS: After November 1, 2023, students are free to submit whatever app they have developed.

ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER YEAR: Only one application may be submitted by students annually. It is not permitted to enter more than one team.

How to Register for the Congressional App Challenge

In order to register individually, students must:

• An email address they use for personal purposes rather than their school account.
• Congressional District, Member of Congress, and the home’s nine-digit zip code
• The nine-digit zip code of the school, the member of congress, and the congressional district
• The name and email address of a parent or guardian.
• The student’s coding mentor or teacher’s name and email address are optional.

In order to register as a team, you will require:

• The details shown above for every team member.
• A team may only take part as a group ONCE.

Key Deadlines and Submission Requirement

Submissions for the Congressional App Challenge must be made by Thursday, October 24, 2024, at 12:00 PM ET.

END OF QUESTIONNAIRE

A link to the Exit Questionnaire will be sent to students after the deadline has passed. We are able to improve the Congressional App Challenge thanks to the data.

Teams: Each member of your team is required to fill out the Exit Questionnaire on their own. Although they must fill out the form separately, teammates can use the same link.

CHOICE OF THE WINNER

The 9th District of North Carolina will have a team of industry professionals study and assess the demonstration videos and submission answers. The Congressional App Challenge and House.gov websites, as well as the U.S. Capitol, will showcase the winning app.

OFFICIAL GUIDELINES

You may see the official guidelines and prerequisites for the 2024 Congressional App Challenge here.

Tips for Developing a Competition

The distinctive feature of the Congressional App Challenge is that each District conducts the competition according to a different set of rules. It’s typical to see representatives host a demo day or adhere to a hackathon structure, though each representative will set it up however they feel fit. The winners from each District competition will be evaluated by December 31 regardless of how it is held, and the Congressional App Challenge will formally reveal the national winners by January 15.

You can anticipate that the following standards will be used to evaluate your submissions:

Your Submission Shows that You Have a Solid Understanding of Programming.

1. Its development should exhibit good coding abilities.
2. It need to be completely operational and usable.

The Concept’s Quality

1. How imaginative is it?
2. To what extent is it unique?
3. Does it resolve an issue? How inventive is the solution?

Application Implementation

1. How well do the UI and UX work?
2. How well-designed is the app?

Past Winners of the Congressional App Challenge

Here are a few previous winners and their strategies for winning the Congressional App Challenge, which is an amazing accomplishment.

Progress in Congress

A group of four people from New York founded the website Progress in Congress, which links people with their representatives in Congress and the laws and policies they support without the influence of outside parties. They point out that because their district is infamously “purple,” voters in the neighborhood may cast Republican or Democratic ballots in any given election. As a result, a large portion of their high school population is interested in politics and their government, but they require a reliable source of knowledge, which Progress in Congress aims to supply.

FastUC by Isha Nagireddy

Isha Nagireddy, a tenth grader, developed the FastUC service, which links users to the closest emergency rooms and urgent rooms. She created this software in an attempt to address the issue of lengthy hospital wait times in her town and even nationwide due to COVID. She founded FastUC and won in Massachusetts because she has firsthand experience with the lengthy wait times in her town and has referenced scientific studies and publications about the negative effects of wait times on people’s personal and professional lives.

The Congressional App Challenge’s effects

Over the course of six years, thousands of students around the country have been motivated to learn to code by the Congressional App Challenge. These kids have created applications that tackle issues on a local, national, and international level with the help of their member of Congress. Every year, a diverse group of students from underrepresented backgrounds participate in the challenge.

The number of applications received in 2019 was 2,177, up 235% from 2016, 10,211 students participated, up 373% from 2016, 48 U.S. states participated, up 45% from 2016, and 304 members of Congress participated, up 54% from 2016.

No other effort has been able to accomplish what the CAC has: it has garnered record-breaking involvement from marginalized groups and reached exceptional levels of participation in urban, suburban, and rural areas.

By reaching out to a diverse spectrum of pupils in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, and geography, the CAC surpasses Silicon Valley. The CAC participants are twice as likely to identify as female, five times more likely to identify as Latinx, and four times more likely to identify as Black, in contrast to Silicon Valley’s metrics. Additionally, 44% of participants in the app challenge identified as novices.

Conclusion

You shouldn’t pass up this challenge if you’re a middle or high school kid who is passionate about coding and has a strong skill set in it, and if your district is listed as a participant (or perhaps not). For someone who is skilled at both problem identification and coding solutions, it is a formidable challenge.

As long as you’re determined, it’s a manageable challenge even if you’re new to coding, thanks to the abundance of tools offered and the free entrance that makes it extremely accessible. Even if you don’t win, it’s a great way to get your start in the programming industry, and the incentives and exposure are amazing.

Frequent Asks Questions

1. What kinds of applications are accepted from the students?

Any kind of app can be made by students using any programming language on any platform.

2. Is it possible for Congressional Offices to solicit donations?

Indeed. For private financial or in-kind support of the Congressional App Challenge, offices may solicit donations. A waiver designed especially for these kinds of solicitations has been developed by the Ethics Committee. as long as they have gotten approval and filled out the Ethics Committee waiver. As long as the member remains in the House once the waiver procedure is finished, the STEM Competition waiver is valid for the next year.

3. Which authorized resources may my office utilize to administer this challenge?

All MRA materials are available to you, provided that your use complies with the guidelines.