STEAM Hunt wins Rep. Stephanie Bice’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Oklahoma’s Fifth District
Rep. Bice has named Pari Gulati, a 12th grader at Casady School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Oklahoma’s Fifth District.
When asked what inspired the creation of STEAM Hunt, the student said, “When I entered my first computer science class, I was immediately shocked by a room filled with boys.
In a class filled with boys, I constantly doubted if I belonged. Many of the boys had much more experience than I did, and I often thought I would never be as good as them. I realized these feelings would not exist if I had been exposed to CS earlier.
Bridging the gender gap in STEAM at an early age became my call to action. So, I met with the local leadership of iCode, an afterschool CS program for kids. We realized that we shared a common goal, to expose kids to CS at an early age, regardless of their gender. To address this, I created a STEAM treasure hunt. I began advertising this program at elementary schools and in public spaces. In order to make this experience run smoothly, I wanted to create a way to streamline this process, especially because young kids tend to lose papers often. So, I developed an app for students to document their progress. While this app and treasure hunt are an early attempt, I am determined to continue working on paving a more inclusive path for students interested in CS.”
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.