Guide Dog wins Rep. Richard Hudson’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in North Carolina’s Ninth District
Rep. Richard Hudson has named Gabrielle Humphrey of Jack Britt High School and Sophie Zhu of North Carolina School of Science and Math as the winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge in North Carolina’s Ninth District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Guide Dog, the students said, “Sophie: My robotics team started working with the Morehead School of the Blind last year to start a First Lego League team with all the students there. Luckily, I got to assist with some of these preparations and meet all the students. Through our conversations, I got to learn more about their daily lives. As we started to build the robot, we started talking about programming. I thought this would be where they would have the most difficulty, but, to my surprise, most of these students already knew how to code in languages like Python and Quorum. These students navigated through their day-to-day lives using walking sticks, however walking sticks are very limited in navigation. I’ve always wanted to help build and implement a walking stick using Arduino for them, but never had the funds so eventually an app seemed to be the best choice and was also the most accessible.
Gabrielle: I used to volunteer at the vision resource center in my town and I thought the guide dogs were so fascinating. But that led me to wonder about the people who didn’t have access to them, whether that be due to allergies or cost or any other reason. I thought the perfect way to bring the independence of a guide dog free of cost would be through technology which led to the idea for Guide Dog.”
This year’s Congressional App Challenge set new records, with an unprecedented 382 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions—surpassing the previous high of 374. An incredible 12,682 students from across the country participated, representing a growth of over 1,000 students compared to 2023. These talented students submitted an astounding 3,881 original applications, showcasing their creativity, passion for technology, and the limitless potential of America’s next generation of innovators. This surge in participation reflects the increasing excitement around STEM and highlights a bright future for American innovation.
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 the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2025, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.