Hackathon: Congressional App Challenge (NC-04)

Join us for the first Congressional App Challenge Hackathon hosted by Congressman David Price, which is being held in coordination with US2020. Mentors will be on hand to help students and teams start, develop, or complete an app for the Challenge. 

Please bring a laptop for the Hackathon. If you would like to participate, but do not have access to a laptop, pelase email Katelynn Anderson at Katelynn.Anderson@mail.house.gov. 

Lunch and snacks will be provided! 

The winning app will be featured in an interactive display in the United States Capitol. Additionally, Amazon Web Services has announced that it is providing $50,000 in AWS credits used for cloud computing services to be split among the winners nationwide (with parental consent).  All participants will also be recognized by Congressman Price at a reception at the Friday Institute at NC State on Thursday, November 17.   Teachers and administrators will also be invited to attend. 

Congressional App Challenge Background

The Congressional App Challenge is designed to promote STEM education by recognizing and incentivizing young talent to create a concept or source code for an online or mobile application (“app”).

Eligibility

• Open to High School age students that attend school or live in the Fourth Congressional District.

• Students are only eligible to compete once they have signed up for the Challenge atCongressionalAppChallenge.us.

• Students may only compete in one district.

• Students may compete as individuals or in teams of up to four.  If competing as a team: at least two of the teammates must be eligible to compete within the district in which they are submitting.

• There is no technical age minimum, but the App Challenge is intended for high school students.  Recent High School graduates are not eligible to compete.

Submission Requirements

Students must submit their apps by noon on November 2, 2016.  The app students create may cover any topic, but they must be original and appropriate.

List of Submission Requirements:

1. Sign-up Form. Students must fill out a sign-up form so their eligibility can be verified on congressionalappchallenge.us.  If students are competing as part of a team, the sign-up form must include the relevant information from each student

2. App Information. Students will be asked to answer a series of questions including: title of the app, the coding language used, what they were trying to accomplish and why, an explanation of a difficulty they faced in programming and how it was overcome, and what improvements the students would make

3. Demonstration Video. Students must create a 1 to no more than 3 minute video, post it on YouTube or Vimeo, and submit the link on the Congressional App Challenge submission form. The video must be set up to public view. Videos that are longer than 3 minutes will be penalized per the judges’ discretion.  Past winners can be found here, as well as their videos for inspiration.

4. Exit Questionnaire. The questionnaire will be emailed to students after final submission.

Judging 

A local panel of judges will decide the winner of the App Challenge, and a reception will be held for all participents in November.  More information on judging coming soon! 

Questions?

Contact Katelynn Anderson in Congressman Price’s office at

Katelynn.Anderson@mail.house.gov or 919-859-5999