Let’s Get Down to Buzzness Wins Rep. Kelly’s (PA-16) 2019 Congressional App Challenge
Rep. Mike Kelly has named two Butler students as the winner of the Congressional App Challenge in Pennsylvania 16th district. Knoch High School’s Brooke Lassinger and Elyse Chess submitted Let’s Get Down to Buzzness, an app that was created as a fun game for all ages to play whenever they are bored.
When asked why they were passionate about creating a gaming app the students replied,“We wanted to provide a source of entertainment for all ages, and thought this would be a great idea.” 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.