House App Contest

This year marks the first annual Congressional Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Academic Competition, the “House App Contest.”  This new competition is designed to engage student’s creativity and encourage their participation in STEM education fields.  Established by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, this competition is a nationwide event that allows high school students from across the country to compete by creating and exhibiting their software application, or “app,” for mobile, tablet, or computer devices on a platform of their choice.  Throughout the completion period, participating students will be provided opportunities to engage with various STEM educational partners located within the community to mentor and assist them with their app development.  

Congressman Kennedy's office is proud to host the “House App Contest” for all high school students in Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District. Students entering the competition must submit their app’s source code online to the Congressman's office during the Competition Submission Period between 12 PM Eastern Standard Time on FEBRUARY 1ST, 2014, and 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time on MAY 31ST, 2014, as well as provide a YouTube or VIMEO video demo explaining their app and what they learned through this competition process. The Congressman will appoint an independent panel to judge the submissions and the winning contestant's app will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol. Students, teachers or parents interested in learning more about the competition should contact Sean Malone at (617) 332-3333 or Sean.Malone@mail.house.gov.

Can I Participate?

1. The contest is open to high school students who reside in the MA-4 Congressional District. 
2. Participants may compete individually or in groups of up to 4 students. 
3. For groups of 2 students, at least 1 must reside in the MA-4 Congressional District.
4. For groups of 3-4 students, at least 2 must reside in the MA-4 Congressional District. 
5. For additional rules and guidelines, please click here.
6. For FAQ's about the STEM Competition, please click here.

To Register

To enter, the student must register at http://studentappchallenge.house.gov/ and then submit their entries to http://www.challengepost.com after February 1, 2014 12PM EST. All entries must be an original in concept, design and execution.

1. Register for the House Student App Challenge
2. Register and submit entries at http://www.challengepost.com

*Please note that you must register at both websites. 

Resources for Students and Teachers

• Code.org
• 36 Resources To Help You Teach Kids Programming
• CodeAcademy.COM self-taught courses in HTML/CSS, Python, Ruby, and PHP
• MIT App Inventor tutorial to develop mobile apps on Android phones.
• Scratch a simple visual programming language
• Alice is used to create 3D animations
• Development Kits:
  • Apple iOS Developer Program
  • Android- Develop for Android
  • Windows Apps