Trackrr wins Rep. Matt Cartwright’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Pennsylvania’s Eighth District
Rep. Cartwright has named Kevin Chen, a 12th grader at Abington Heights High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Pennsylvania’s Eighth District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Trackrr, the student said, “As I look over my bank statement, I can feel a pain in my pocket. In those pockets, there lies a wallet. That wallet ultimately carries my debit card and every month, the subscriptions of Spotify Premium to Quizlet Plus all ruthlessly attack my debit account. There are many others that share the same pain with me, collectively in this increasingly expensive society. I was sick of paying so much money on subscriptions and one of them was a premium diet tracker. For the right of convenient healthy eating to be hidden because of a price, I knew that this had to be made immediately. Of course I could’ve made a free Quizlet Plus because education is also important, but at the time it was the start of my bulking era so I cared about my nutrition the most. I guess on a fundamental level, it was my desire to achieve those gains and my regret in spending so much money that inspired me to create this app. ”
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.