Press Release: 2016 CAC Winners
Members promote the importance of coding and STEM by honoring students from 123 congressional districts across the United States.
WASHINGTON, DC – Today over 120 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives will announce the winners of the 2016 Congressional App Challenge. Over the last four months thousands of students coded original apps as part of district-wide competitions hosted by Members of the House. Over 2,150 students participated in the 15-week regional competitions. They submitted over 650 original student-created apps, a 30% expansion in participation from the first official Challenge in 2015.
“Computer science skills are critical to the jobs of the future and the Congressional App Challenge fosters those skills in schools around the country. Seeing what these students are capable of creating when given the encouragement to do so is truly inspirational,” said Congressional Co-Chair Ed Royce (R-Calif.).
In all, 123 Congressional districts across 33 states hosted app challenges for their student constituents. Congressional participation was widespread and remarkably bipartisan.
“Computer science education is something that everyone can and should get behind. I’m incredibly proud to have co-chaired this bipartisan effort, which saw participation from one Independent, fifty-nine Republicans, and sixty-three Democrats. Representatives from every political viewpoint rallied around this effort to invest in our kids, and we need more of that type of bipartisan cooperation in Congress today,” said Congressional Co-Chair Seth Moulton (D-Mass.).
The Congressional App Challenge will invite winners from across the country to showcase their apps to the Members of Congress and members of the tech community at #HouseOfCode, a DC-based reception to be held in April of 2017. Their work will be featured for one year on the permanent display in the U.S. Capitol Building, and on the House.gov website. Winning students will also be awarded a portion of $50,000 in credits, generously donated by Amazon Web Services.
“Few institutions have the reach that the House of Representatives does,” said Rhianon Anderson, Executive Director of the Challenge. “We’re thrilled that Members of Congress from every corner of the country are leveraging that reach to inspire their student constituents to learn how to code. This is a life-changing opportunity for many kids.”
Winning students and their apps will be listed on the Congressional App Challenge website, under “2016 Winners,” beginning at noon, EST. Congratulations to all the students who participated! Full list of winners here.
About the Congressional App Challenge:
The CAC is coordinated by the Congressional Internet Caucus and by the Internet Education Foundation, the non-governmental sponsor of the project.
The 2016 Congressional App Challenge is only possible thanks to the generous support of our sponsors: Capital One, Intel, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, the United Parcel Service, CA Technologies and BSA, the Business Software Alliance. The Challenge also owes gratitude to Representatives Bob Goodlatte and Anna G. Eshoo, co-chairs of the Congressional Internet Caucus, who requested and supported the creation of the CAC. Challenge execution is supported by the efforts of our Advisory Board, which includes the American Indian Science and Engineering Society, the Computer Science Teachers Association, Girls Who Code, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Capital One, and Cisco, as well as a broad coalition of CS-focused partners.
For further information about the Congressional App Challenge, please visit CongressionalAppChallenge.us or email our Director here.
