STEM Competition

2014 Congressional Stem Competition: House App Contest

Representative Rick Crawford is excited to announce the 2014 Congressional Stem Competition: House App Contest. High school students who live in or are eligible to enroll in high schools located in the 1st district can participate in the competition by developing or designing an Application on a platform of their choice.  (You can check to see if you live, or your high school is located, in the 1st district here

Students entering the competition must submit their app’s source code online during the Competition Submission Period between 12 PM Eastern Standard Time on FEBRUARY 1ST, 2014, and 11:59 PM Eastern Daylight Time on APRIL 30TH, 2014, as well as provide a YouTube or VIMEO video demo explaining their app and what they learned through this competition process.

Submitting Your App

All apps must be submitted through the www.challengepost.gov website. Each entry must include a link to your Application Demonstration Video (which can be created via YouTube or VIMEO) to explain and outline your application. Please note that your entry may be judged in its entirety based on this video. It is important to demonstrate the scope and quality of your application in this video. No more than two minutes in length.

Participants have the choice of creating a fully-functioning application OR designing a detailed mock-up of an application concept. Both options can be submitted through the Application Demonstration Video.

To enter, students must create an account on www.challengepost.com and then register for the House Student App Contest under their participating Member of Congress’ profile during the Competition Submission Period. All entries must be an original in concept, design and execution.

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

You must also submit your information and application to Rep. Crawford's office. You can contact Rep. Crawford's office at (870) 203-0540. It is important to remember you must submit your information and application to Rep. Crawford's office AND through the www.challengepost.gov site.

Please read the official competition Rules and Regulations here

Key Dates

February 1: Contest Opens

April 30: Contest Closes 

May 16: 1st District Contest Winner Celebration

May 30: All district winners submitted to the House

FAQs:

What is the contest?

The Congressional STEM Competition was authorized by H.Res 77 to encourage student participation in STEM fields. Initially the competition will be in the field of computer science. Participating students in the district will develop an app on a platform of their choice. The Member will appoint judges to evaluate the apps and select winners.

Who can participate?

High school students who live in or are eligible to enroll in high schools located in the district can participate.

Can homeschooled students participate?

Yes, any student who lives in or is eligible to attend high school in the district can compete.

How will winners be recognized?

Winners will be recognized in a district awards ceremony. The overall winner from each district will be featured on House.gov. There will be a display in the Capitol to honor all of the district winners.

Can students submit in teams?

Yes, the maximum team size is four students, two of whom must reside in or be eligible to attend high school in the district.

How are apps judged?

Apps are scored by the idea, implementation, and impact. 

Resources for Students and Teachers:

Code.org

36 Resources To Help You Teach Kids Programming Development Kits....Apple, Android and Windows

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