Recently, we hosted an informational event on the Congressional App Challenge (https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/), featuring speakers from past winners and teacher mentors.
Watch the complete event here on Youtube! https://youtu.be/RXFZzBhrbCg
The Congressional App Challenge is a yearly competition where middle and high school students build apps that address an issue in their community. Participating is a great way to impactfully apply computer science skills to a real-world issue. This year’s app deadline is October 24th, so start now!
This event featured student speakers Sena and Om. Sena built a website connecting users to local protests and discussions about social issues, while Om built an app raising awareness about ticks and lyme disease.
Here are a couple of key tips they had to give:
Your video is one of the most important parts of your application! Make sure to explicitly highlight the features of your app and how it address an issue in your community
Don’t let the complexity of a coding platform turn you away from using it! There are so many online resources nowadays that can make learning almost any platform much easier
You’ll likely experience many challenges when building your app— plan ahead for the extra time
Make sure your district is participating in the Congressional App Challenge, and check other eligibility details on their website
For more tips, refer to the video above!