Auditory wins Rep. Michael C. Burgess’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 26th District
Rep. Burgess has named Sanchana Shanmuga, a 12th grader at Flower Mound High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 26th District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Auditory, the student said, “At the age of sixty-two, my Grandfather lost his vision. He couldn’t navigate around the house or watch his grandkids grow up, but he always told me that he had it lucky as an old man since some children are born blind. What’s even worse is that they are just kids‚Äìthey still have to tackle the education system and learn more about the world with only four senses. My grandpa’s four words from that day inspired me to take initiative to help visually impaired students study for school. However, I soon realized that this app can help all kinds of students study. Therefore, I hope to make studying easier for all students.”
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.