My High School Journey Wins Rep. Kaptur’s (OH-09) 2019 Congressional App Challenge
Rep. Marcy Kaptur has named three Lorain students as the winner of the Congressional App Challenge in Ohio’s 9th district. Saint Ignatius High School’s Victor Yavornitzky, Alexander Gee and John Jusko submitted My High School Journey, an app designed to expedite the college essay and resume process by providing a place to store and reflect upon all of your activities while in High School.
When asked why they were passionate about creating an app that helps one to store memories the students replied, “At the beginning of the school year, we were approached by one of the teachers with an idea to create an application helping the students at our school organize their experiences while they go through high school. The teacher who approached us said the administration had been thinking about creating an app like this but never knew how they would go about doing so.” 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.