Congressional App Challenge
I’m pleased to announce that the Congressional App Challenge, a competition designed to engage student creativity and promote their participation in computer science and coding, will take place from July 18th to November 2nd this year.
Established by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, this nationwide effort allows students to compete against their peers by creating and an application or “app,” for mobile, tablet, or computer devices. The Challenge is designed to promote innovation and engagement in coding and computer science.
The Congressional App Challenge is open to all students in the 2nd Congressional District of Colorado. Students entering the competition must submit their app to Challenge.gov during the Competition Submission Period between 12 PM (noon) Eastern Standard Time on July 18th, 2016, and 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern Daylight Time on November 2nd, 2016.
Submissions will be judged on the following criteria: quality of the idea, including creativity and originality; implementation of the idea, including user experience and design; and demonstrated excellence of coding and programming skills.
The winner from the 2nd Congressional District, chosen by a panel of expert judges, will be featured on StudentAppChallenge.us, and the winning app will also be on display in the U.S. Capitol, honoring the winners from across the country.
For more information, please visit the official Congressional App Challenge website at CongressionalAppChallenge.us or contact Mara Brosy-Wiwchar at mara.brosy-wiwchar@mail.house.gov or (970) 226-1239.
To complete a submission, students must submit the following:
Sign-up Form: Students must fill out a sign-up form so their eligibility can be verified. If students are competing as part of a team, the sign-up form must include the relevant information from each student.
App Information: Students will be asked to answer a series of questions including:
o Title of the app
o The coding language used
o What they were trying to accomplish and why
o An explanation of a difficulty they faced in programming the app and how it was overcome
o What improvements the students would make if they were going to create a version 2.0 of their app.
Demonstration Video: Students must create a 1 to no more than 3 minute video, post it on YouTube or Vimeo, and submit the link on the Congressional App Challenge submission form. The video must be set up to public view. Videos that are longer than 3 minutes will be penalized per the judges’ discretion.
Exit Questionnaire: The exit questionnaire will be emailed to all students following the submission of their app.
