Teaching Tolerance wins Rep. Grace Meng’s (NY-06) 2020 Congressional App Challenge

When asked what inspired the creation of Teaching Tolerance, the student said, “When watching the nightly news and reading about the increasing wave of hate crimes during the pandemic, it is easy to lose hope in the midst of these alarming times. This inspired me to make a website to include both statistical information about hate crimes because there is a need to shed a spotlight on the suffering of minority groups, to motivate my generation and to give us hope for the future at the same time. By acquiring knowledge and inspiring empathy skills, we can make the United States more just and inclusive to everyone. 

Over 6,500 students registered for the 2020 Congressional App Challenge. These students created and submitted 3,088 functioning apps, marking the end of an extremely successful Congressional App Challenge amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All told, 308 Members of Congress hosted Congressional App Challenges in their districts across 49 states, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands, and Washington, DC.

The CAC is an initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host competitions 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 Internet Education Foundation provides the CAC with supplemental support. In the six years of the Congressional App Challenge, thousands of functional apps have been created by over 30,000 students, and participant demographics surpass all industry diversity metrics.