West Nova News

Leesburg, VA – On June 15, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-VA) announced the launch of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge, inviting middle and high school students in Virginia’s 10th District to design and create their own apps that would benefit their local community.

“I’m excited to invite all Virginia-10 middle and high school students to try their hands at Congress’ annual coding competition, the 2023 Congressional App Challenge – open now!” said Congresswoman Wexton. “This competition is a great way for young people of all abilities and backgrounds to learn more about coding and get hands-on experience putting to work skills that could benefit them far into their futures. I’m always so impressed by the brilliance, talent, and creativity of our district’s students, so I can’t wait to see what inventive new ideas this year’s participants come up with to benefit our community.”

Officially launched in 2015, the Congressional App Challenge is a nationwide coding competition open intended to engage students’ creativity and encourage their participation in STEM fields. The contest is open to all middle and high school students who live in participating congressional districts, and those who choose to participate are invited to design and submit their own software application using any programming language (example: C, C++, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, “block code,” etc.) and platform (PC, web, tablet, mobile, raspberry Pi, etc) of their choice. The best app from each participating district is selected by a panel of local judges who work within the academic, software, and entrepreneurial fields, and will be featured in the U.S. Capitol and on the House of Representatives website.

All applications must adhere to the Congressional App Challenge’s official rules, which can be found here. Submissions must include a demonstration video with the app’s and participants’ names, an explanation of the app’s purpose and target audience, the tools and coding languages that went into the app’s creation, and a demonstration of how the app works. Students may register for the contest as individuals, or as teams as large as four, and must submit their applications either to the district that they live in or the district where they attend school.

The deadline to submit applications for the competition is 12 p.m. on November 1st, 2023. The winners are announced by December 31st, and will be invited to participate in the annual “House of Code” event on Capitol Hill.

Learn more about Virginia-10’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge here.

Original source can be found here.