Stellar wins Rep. Jen Kiggans’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Virginia’s Second District
Rep. Kiggans has named Ky-Quan Pham and Cameron Spears of Princess Anne High School as the winners of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Virginia’s Second District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Stellar, the students said, “As inflation and housing prices increase while employment decreases, it is important to be able to manage your own money. I have always strived to fulfill the American dream of socioeconomic class movement by moving up a class, and I realized that there are those significantly less fortunate than me who may have minimal resources to help themselves achieve this goal. I have access through free time and easy access to the internet, but there are those who have siblings to take care of while their parents work or other extenuating circumstances which gives them no time to research or investigate for themselves. I hoped to create this app in hopes that those who are struggling and wish to find a way to improve their economic situation may find this as a useful starting point to build productive and beneficial habits.”
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.