Clubhouse: School Made Easy App Wins Rep. Hurd’s (TX-23) 2019 Congressional App Challenge
Rep. Will Hurd has named two San Antonio students as the winner of the Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 23rd district. Ronald Reagan High School’s Anand Valavalkar and Peyton Ausburn submitted Clubhouse: School Made Easy, an app that allows for students in high school clubs and organizations to sign into events and meetings.
When asked why they were passionate about creating an organizational app the students replied, “Both of us have been officers in school clubs and organizations since sophomore year in high school. Through our time in those positions, we began to question if the 5 minute long sign-in lines, and hours of work for officers after the fact was the best way.” They hope 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.