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Congressional App Challenge

Congressional App Challenge

Attention all IA-02 middle and high school students! I am pleased to announce that my office will be participating in the 2023 Congressional App Challenge (CAC). This competition was first officially launched in 2015 by the U.S. House of Representatives and was designed to encourage student participation in STEM, especially in computer science and coding. This nationwide effort allows students to compete alongside other peers by creating an app for desktop/PC, web, tablet, mobile, raspberry Pi, or other devices. The Challenge is specifically designed to promote innovation and engagement in computer science and is open to all middle and high school students in Iowa’s Second Congressional District.

Students entering the competition must submit their app to CongressionalAppChallenge.us during the Competition Submission Period between June 15th, 2023, and 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern Time on November 1st, 2023.

The winner from IA-02 will be chosen by a panel of judges from the district.

For more information, please see the information below, visit the official Congressional App Challenge website at CongressionalAppChallenge.us, or email StudentSupport@CongressionalAppChallenge.us.

Submission Rules and Requirements:

  1. To be eligible, you must:
    1. Be currently enrolled in middle or high school.
    2. Live or go to school in Iowa’s Second Congressional District. You may check your home or school address here).
    3. Limit your group to 4 members (at least 2 members per group must live or attend school in IA-02).
    4. Meet the November 1st, 2023 (Noon EST) deadline to submit your app and all other requirements below.
  2. Your app may cover any topic of your choice, but must be appropriate, original, and created within the calendar year prior to this Challenge Closing Date.
  3. Your app may be written in any programming language (C, C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, or "block code"), for any platform (desktop/PC, web, mobile, raspberry Pi, etc.).
  4. You and/or your group may only submit one app.

Please visit this link for any questions on eligibility and submission requirements and view the complete Congressional App Challenge Student Handbook here.

How to Enter:

  1. Please check your eligibility (see above or visit this link to do so).
  2. Register to participate between June 15th, 2023, and November 1st, 2023 (Noon EST) on the Congressional App Challenge website. Please note that the deadline to register AND to submit an entry is November 1st, 2023.
  • Pre-Registration is currently open. For more details on how you can pre-register, please click here.

       *Students are strongly encouraged by CAC to register by September 1, 2023.

  • To register as an individual, students need:
  • A personal email address that is not their school email account
  • Home’s 9-digit zip code, Congressional District, and Member of Congress
  • School’s 9-digit zip code, Congressional District, and Member of Congress
  • A parent or guardian’s contact information (name and email address)
  • Name and email of student’s coding teacher or mentor (optional)
  • To register as a team:
  • The above information for each team member.
  • One team may participate ONCE as a group.
  1. Begin creating your app.
  2. Once complete, create a demonstration video. Your video should be 1-3 minutes long and answer all Congressional App Challenge required questions.
  3. Submit your demonstration video and app to the Congressional App Challenge website.
  4. Complete the Exit Questionnaire.

            ** Please note that the completion of the Exit Questionnaire is mandatory.

  1. All done!

For more information on the CAC winning app prizes, please visit this link.