Congressional App Challenge kicks off

The third annual Congressional App Challenge kicked off Wednesday, and Congressman Mark DeSaulnier of California’s 11th District announced that he will be hosting the challenge for high school students in his district.

The challenge is a national software application (or “app”) coding contest, established by members of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013 to engage students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. Congressmembers can opt to participate in the contest, which allows students in their districts to compete.

Over the course of three months, high school students from the 11th district — which covers most of Contra Costa County and stretches from Richmond to the west, Danville to the south and Bay Point to the north — can submit apps via an online submission form, with one app per district chosen as a winner.

“The Congressional App Challenge gives students the opportunity to strengthen and demonstrate their coding skills,” Congressman DeSaulnier said. “I am continually impressed by the talent and ingenuity of our high school students, and look forward to seeing this year’s unique submissions. Students from across the district are invited to join their peers nationwide in showcasing the creativity of our young programmers.”

One hundred sixty-two members of Congress in 44 states and territories are participating in this year’s challenge, with representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Tim Ryan serving as the contest’s co-chairs. Last year, over 2,000 students took part in the challenge.

Students can compete as individuals or in teams of up to four, and in addition to submitting their app, they also need to include a short video demonstration explaining the app and complete an online questionnaire.

The app, which can be created for any platform (mobile, web, desktop, etc.), will be judged by a panel of local experts in the academic, software and entrepreneurial fields, who will be looking at the idea quality, idea implementation and a demonstrated excellence of coding and programming skills.

“We strongly encourage students of all skill levels to participate and learn how to create their own apps,” DeSaulnier said on his webpage announcement.

Students can submit applications through November 1, and district winners will have their app featured on the U.S. House of Representatives’ website and displayed in a U.S. Capitol exhibit.