Oak Ridge High School (ORHS) student, Brian Qu is our local winner of the 2022 Congressional App Challenge. He created an app that allows students to build their 4-year academic plans by connecting to data in our ORHS academic planning guide and their personal profiles in our student management system, Skyward. Student course selections are communicated directly with the studentsā counselors through the app. Brian created this app during Computer Science club after school using the React-Native programming language. It runs on both Android and IOS.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives host an annual district-wide Congressional App Challenge (CAC) for middle and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann hosted this competition in our district.
The CAC accepts apps written in any programming language, and for any platform. Students of all skill levels are encouraged to participate, and winners are selected by panels of judges from the local community. The apps are then eligible to be featured on display in the U.S. Capitol building, on house.gov, and on the Congressional App Challenge website (link below).
The CAC was created because Congress recognized that STEM and computer-based skills are essential for economic growth and innovation and that the U.S. has been falling behind on these fronts. By some estimates, the U.S. may be short by as many as 1 million programmers by 2021. These are high-paying, high-demand jobs. To maintain American competitiveness, it is crucial that the United States invests in our youth now and helps them acquire these valuableĀ skills.
The CAC focuses on inclusivity and making the Challenge as accessible as possible to people from all backgrounds. Deliberate effort is made to include students from all backgrounds, including those traditionally underrepresented in technological fields.
For further information about the Congressional App Challenge, please visit www.CongressionalAppChallenge.us
