CritiCare wins Rep. Kat Cammack’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s Third District
Rep. Cammack has named Aliana Chen and Jolie Huang of Buchholz High School as the winners of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s Third District.
When asked what inspired the creation of CritiCare, the students said, “We realized that a lot of our favorite animals were disappearing. Scientists estimate that the current extinction rate is around 1,000 to 10,000 times the background, or natural, rate of extinction. Most of this is due to the impact humans have had on the world and its wide range of ecosystems. Deforestation, increased emission of greenhouse gas, habitat destruction due to urban sprawl, and illegal hunting are just a few of the numerous human-related causes of the mass extinction occurring around us. We saw this dilemma and decided not to turn a blind eye to it, but to help solve this growing problem. We wanted to assist in offsetting all the negative impacts humans have had on the environment by creating our app, CritiCare, to fund wildlife conservation organizations so that our precious animals are around for not only us, but our children, grandchildren, and many generations afterward, to enjoy.”
This year’s Challenge saw an unprecedented level of participation, with 374 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions, surpassing the previous record of 340. A remarkable 11,334 students from across the United States competed in this year’s Challenge, marking an impressive increase of nearly 1,000 participants compared to the previous record set in 2019. The enthusiasm and creativity these students display is a testament to the growing interest in technology and signal a bright future for American innovation. The surge of ingenuity continued with a whopping 3,645 original applications flooding in, nearly a thousand more than the previous year’s high. This remarkable growth showcases the exceptional talent and innovation within our nation’s youth.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official 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. This resounding show of bipartisan support emphasizes the critical importance of STEM education in today’s rapidly evolving world. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during our annual #HouseOfCode festival. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from Omidyar Network, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2024, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.