Rep. Gallego Announces 2017 Congressional App Challenge Winners
From left: Niyonkuru Pamphile, Edgar Alvarez, and Jesus Hernandez
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Congressman Ruben Gallego recognized three students from Arizona's 7th Congressional district as winners of this year's Congressional App Challenge – a competition that encourages high school students from across the United States to create their own mobile applications.
Metro Tech High School seniors Edgar Alvarez, Jesus Hernandez, and Niyonkuru Pamphile won first place for their app, titled "American Trivia."
"American Trivia" will be displayed on the Congressional App Challenge website and will be exhibited on a digital display in the Capitol Building for a year.
The students created the app as a part of a Game and App Development Class, a Career and Technical Education class offered in the Phoenix Union High School District. The students designed the functional, fun and user-friendly app using JavaScript in Code.org's App Lab.
"I want to congratulate Edgar, Jesus and Nyonkuru, the winners of this year's Congressional App Challenge," said Rep. Ruben Gallego. "Coding takes creativity and hard work, and I was thoroughly impressed by the entries submitted by the talented students in our district. These students have a bright future ahead of them, and will help create the technology that will change our world."
"These three young men will be successful in any career they choose," said teacher Chad Renning. "They all have a desire to learn, are self-motivated and work hard – not to mention they are extremely smart. I can't wait to see what else they create."
The winners were chosen by a team of judges selected from throughout Arizona's 7th Congressional district. The judges included:
Daniel G. Cartagena, Senior System Engineer, Intel
Juana Maes, Manufacturing Engineer, GKN Aerospae and Secretary of the Society of Hispanic Engineers (SHPE)
Maira Garcia, Systems Engineer, Honeywell Aerospace and President of SHPE, Phoenix Chapter
Diana Vowels, General Manager, Galvanize, Phoenix
The annual Congressional App Challenge highlights the value of computer science and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education. This was the first year that students from Arizona's 7th Congressional district submitted entries to the competition.