Hot Springs School District COVID-19 Screening Mobile Application wins Rep. Bruce Westerman’s (AR-04) 2020 Congressional App Challenge

When asked what inspired the creation of Hot Springs School District COVID-19 Screening Mobile Application, the students said, “In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, my school district has employed several different techniques to provide the screener to guests, employees, and students. One technique that hadn’t been utilized was mobile applications. This led me to realize that an app would be able to create a more seamless way to provide the screener.”

Over 6,500 students registered for the 2020 Congressional App Challenge. These students created and submitted 3,088 functioning apps, marking the end of an extremely successful Congressional App Challenge amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All told, 308 Members of Congress hosted Congressional App Challenges in their districts across 49 states, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands, and Washington, DC.

The CAC is an initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host competitions 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. The Internet Education Foundation provides the CAC with supplemental support. In the six years of the Congressional App Challenge, thousands of functional apps have been created by over 30,000 students, and participant demographics surpass all industry diversity metrics.