SaveEmAll wins Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in New Mexico’s First District
Rep. Stansbury has named Rosemary Cochran and Will Boone of Bosque School as the winners of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in New Mexico’s First District.
When asked what inspired the creation of SaveEmAll, the students said, “We wanted to create an app that would teach little kids about animals because it is important to get kids to enjoy education from a young age. Later we discussed making the app exclusive to endangered species because they are in more need of attention and awareness. We go to a school that is very passionate and involved in maintaining the ecosystems around us. Both of us since 6th grade have had a pretty in-depth education on wildlife sciences but we recognize that since it is a main focus in our school program other people may not have that opportunity. Given that our planet is changing so much and so many species are going extinct it is important to spread awareness about it.”
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.