Startup Capitol: Congress Inspiring Thousands of Student Apps in 2019
By the time the submission window closed on the 2019 Congressional App Challenge, students across the country had created and submitted over 2,177 functioning apps, marking the end of the most successful challenge to date. All told, 304 Members of Congress hosted Congressional App Challenges in their districts across 48 states, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands, and Washington, D.C.. Over 10,000 students registered for the competition.
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. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app at the United States Capitol during the annual #HouseOfCode festival.
Now in its fifth year, the Congressional App Challenge has established itself as the largest student computer science competition in the world with a broad national reach. The 304 participating Members of Congress represent over two-thirds of Americans, providing inspiration to students in all corners of the nation.
Over 10,000 students registered for this year\’s competition, more than doubling registration totals from last year\’s competition. These students created 2,177 fully-functioning apps, with some congressional districts receiving over 50 applications. Members of Congress will be announcing their district winners between November 15th and December 31st, 2019.
In the five years of the Congressional App Challenge, the program has yielded 1,134 App Challenges across 48 states. The non-profit Internet Education Foundation provides the Congressional App Challenge with staffing and support. Thousands of functional apps have been created by over 25,000 students, and participant demographics surpass all industry diversity metrics.
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