Seal of Civics: The Ins and Outs of the US Government wins Rep. Steny Hoyer’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Maryland’s Fifth District

When asked what inspired the creation of Seal of Civics: The Ins and Outs of the US Government, the student said, “Last year, I took AP US Government and Politics, and it quickly became my favorite class. I love to learn about the legislative process and participate in clubs like student government related to advocacy/public policy. However, I noticed that some of my peers struggled with connecting to government/civics content and did not like the study tools provided for the class. Most of our resources about civics were textbooks, long articles, court case summaries, and other mundane sources. I wanted to find a way to share my love for government with other young people and help students studying for the AP Government Exam feel prepared.

For this reason, I decided to design a study game that would help teens learn about government/civics in a fun way while also gaining valuable knowledge that could help prepare for tests/exams. I included appealing features like sounds, choosing a customizable character to play as, and bright colors to keep user attention. Additionally, I personally researched and created the databases from which the questions come from. I was able to customize the resources to include the content I found most important/critical to understand having a retrospective view of the course. The user works toward a simple yet attractive goal of earning their seal of civics.

I know that I would have personally benefited from having a resource like this when I was taking the course. I enjoy quizzes that challenge me but don’t have the same stakes as a real quiz for school. Additionally, I wanted to create this app as a thank you to my government teacher. She was the best teacher I’ve ever had, and I wanted to use my skills (specifically my knowledge of government and my ability to code) to give back to her in the best way I could. I love that programming allows me to expand my knowledge of computer science while helping other students rise as well. The app will never be outdated as new events and changes occur in government as the database questions can simply be updated/expanded upon. I ensured my program was written so it could be easily adjusted in terms of content without changing the actual code. My functions can be used for any amount of questions, so all I have to do is add the program into the database.”