WWW (Wonders of World Water) Rep. Engel’s (NY-16) 2019 Congressional App Challenge
Rep. Eliot Engel has named a Scarsdale student as the winner of the Congressional App Challenge in New York’s 16th district. Ardsley High School’s Gillian Gold submitted WWW (Wonders of World Water), an informative and interactive app about water usage.
When asked why they were passionate about creating an app that informs people about water usage the student replied, “By creating a new app, I can use technology to spread awareness about the importance of water to users. My app not only shares information about water sustainability but also reinforces this information with a fun, interactive quiz. This app combines my passion for coding and the environment and water conservation ” This student hopes to encourage other students to better their communities by using their computer science skills.
Over 10,000 students registered for the 2019 Congressional App Challenge. These students created and submitted 2,177 functioning apps, marking the end of the most successful Congressional App Challenge to date. All told, 304 Members of Congress hosted Congressional App Challenges in their districts across 48 states, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands, and Washington, D.C.
The CAC is an initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. The non-profit Internet Education Foundation provides the CAC with supplemental staffing and support. In the five years of the Congressional App Challenge, the program has yielded 1134 App Challenges across 48 states. Thousands of functional apps have been created by over 25,000 students, and participant demographics surpass all industry diversity metrics.