EXPLR Announces Top Student Innovators Named National STEM Champions
2025 National STEM Festival Sponsor Press Release
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EXPLR ANNOUNCES TOP STUDENT INNOVATORS NAMED NATIONAL STEM CHAMPIONS
106 students including six former App Challengers will receive expense-paid trips to the National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C., presented by EXPLR
EXPLR was founded by Jenny Buccos and co-founded by Kari Byron (former Discovery Channel Mythbuster) and Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods)
[NEW YORK, NY – December 18, 2024] – Today, EXPLR announces the names of 106 students, including six former App Challengers, whose outstanding performance in the National STEM Festival Challenge has earned them the title of National STEM Champion. These students will be recognized at the 2025 National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C., presented by EXPLR.
Each student and a guardian will receive an expense-paid trip, including travel and lodging, to attend the Festival and showcase their projects from March 19-22, 2025. In addition, each National STEM Champion will receive free access to EXPLR’s educational streaming video and curriculum platform for the teacher of their choice.
The National STEM Festival invited students in grades 7-12 from across the U.S. and its territories to conceive and submit STEM innovations, inventions, and research across six categories: Aerospace Innovation, Environmental Stewardship, Future Food, Health and Medicine, Powering the Planet, and Tech for Good. A full list of National STEM Champions can be found here.
During the National STEM Festival, students will showcase their projects to top government and corporate leaders, as well as network with other exceptional students from around the country.
“Congratulations to all the students selected as National STEM Champions! EXPLR created the National STEM Festival to spotlight the next generation of innovators—students who are bold thinkers, dynamic leaders, and creators with the power to make a real impact. I’m incredibly excited to welcome our STEM Champions to the Festival this spring, where their ideas will inspire us all,” said Jenny Buccos, Founder & CEO of EXPLR and Co-Director of the National STEM Festival.
The Congressional App Challenge is incredibly proud to collaborate on the National STEM Festival’s shared goal of supporting the organization’s mission to guide the brightest minds towards careers in STEM and to take an active stand in tackling the world’s most pressing challenges. “We are honored to support the National STEM Festival and these brilliant young STEM Champions. Witnessing their groundbreaking innovations and vision for the future is truly inspiring, reminding us all of the potential to shape a better world together,” said Joe Alessi, Congressional App Challenge Director.
ABOUT EXPLR
EXPLR’s mission is to help kids thrive in school and life by providing real-world, rigorous, and relevant educational resources. EXPLR is a streaming video and curriculum service for grade 5-12 students, teachers, and families that helps bridge critical gaps in K-12 education. It was co-founded by leading education and entertainment figures Jenny Buccos (founder of ProjectExplorer) and Kari Byron (former Discovery Channel Mythbuster). Since launching in 2021, EXPLR has been used in over 500 schools across 23 US states.
Visit EXPLR.com
ABOUT THE CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE
The CAC is an 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. The non-profit Internet Education Foundation provides the CAC with supplemental staffing and support. In the nine years of the Congressional App Challenge, the program has inspired over 70,000 App Challengers across all 50 states. Thousands of functional apps have been created for Congress, and participant demographics surpass all industry diversity metrics.