Congressman Mark DeSaulnier, who represents parts of Antioch in the U.S. House of Representatives, announces he will be participating in the second annual Congressional App Challenge (CAC), an app competition for U.S. high school students.

The Challenge submission period will now run through January 21, 2016. Winners will be selected by panels of local judges, and honored by their Congressman. Winning apps will be featured on a display in the Capitol building.

“This competition provides a unique opportunity to high school students to showcase their STEM skills. I invite students from across California’s 11^th Congressional District to join their peers across the nation in an opportunity to display their talents in the U.S. Capitol Building,” said Congressman DeSaulnier.

Established by Members of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013, this competition is a nationwide event intended to engage students’ creativity and encourage their participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields. This competition allows students to compete with peers in their own district by creating and exhibiting their software application, or “app”, for mobile, tablet, or computer devices on a platform of their choice. By encouraging and recognizing our nation’s young programming talent, Congress hopes to shine a light on the growing importance of these skills.

In its first year, the CAC received submissions from students in 84 districts. This year, the Challenge is striving to double that number. Recognizing the racial, gendered, and other disparities in the tech sector, the CAC will also focus on inclusivity and making the Challenge as accessible as possible to people from all backgrounds. Deliberate efforts will be made to include students from all backgrounds, including those traditionally underrepresented in tech.

The Internet Education Foundation will be serving as the operational “sponsor” of the CAC. For further information about the Congressional App Challenge, please visit www.congressionalappchallenge.us

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 16th, 2016 at 1:07 pm and is filed under Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.