Kaptur Announces Winners Of The 2024 9th Congressional District Congressional App ChallengePress ReleaseJobs and the Economy

Toledo, Ohio - On Friday, December 16 Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), hosted a reception at the National Museum of the Great Lakes to honor winners and other outstanding submission for the 9th District Congressional App Challenge. Twenty applications from five schools in Ohio's 9th Congressional District competed this year including students from: Bryan Middle School, Sandusky High School, The Bounty Collegium, Sylvania Northview High School and Sylvania Southview High School. Erie, Lucas and Williams Counties were each represented. The top 3 finalists included representatives from Bryan Middle School, Sandusky High School, and Sylvania Southview High School, and were announced and presented certificates of achievement as part of the reception.

This year's 1st Place honorees were Luke and Harrison Spitnale of Bryan Middle School in Williams County, Ohio. Luke and Harrison are brothers in 8th and 7th grade and submitted the mobile application, "The Bee Keeper" which is designed to assist beekeepers to check weather conditions for inspection and predict how much honey their hive will produce. Luke and Harrison were inspired to create their "app" because their family harvests bees. The winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge will be invited to attend a #HouseofCode reception in Washington, DC in the Spring of 2025. Luke and Harrison's app will be on display in the US Capitol Building and will be featured on House.gov for one year. In addition to this, their app will be featured on CongressionalAppChallenge.us.

"Congratulations to Luke and Harrison Spitnale of Bryan Middle School in Williams County, Ohio for winning Ohio's 9th District 2024 Congressional App Challenge. The Spitnale brother's mobile application, 'The Bee Keeper' is buzzing," said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09). "This 'app' allows beekeepers to check weather conditions for inspection and predict how much honey their hive will produce. I appreciate all 20 submissions in this year's competition. Each team has shown passion and creativity through their work. They have also built critical computer science, engineering, and coding skills that prepare them for the workforce. I also want to extend special thanks to the outstanding computer science professionals and scholars from Northwest State Community College, University of Toledo, Lourdes University and Bowling Green State University- Firelands Campus for judging this year's competition."

This year's 2nd place honoree was Ishan Chopra of Sandusky High School in Erie County with his new financial literacy app, "Buck$." Last year his his soccer App "GOALS" took first place. This year's 3rd place honorees were David Liu & Henry Shao of Sylvania Southview High School in Lucas County with their app "SQUAREONE." Outstanding submissions were also received from The Bounty Collegium, Sylvania Northview High School and Sylvania Southview High School.

A panel of judges selected winners and included administrators and professors specializing in computer science, engineering and the arts from higher education academic institutions within the 9th Congressional District. Judges included: Dr. Todd Hernandez, President of Northwest State Community College, Dr. Mary Robinson of Lourdes University, Dr. Nathan Percival of Bowling Green State University- Firelands Campus, and Dr. Robert Langenderfer and Dr. Ahmad Javaid of the University of Toledo.

The Congressional App Challenge is a yearly competition available to every Congressional District across the United States. The purpose of the challenge is to encourage students from schools across Congressional districts to compete by creating and submitting a mobile application. The competition is an opportunity for young adults to explore coding and computer sciences as a STEM education field. The engagement gives them an opportunity to learn and expand new skills that are advantageous to their future careers.

In 2013, leaders of the House of Representatives and the Internet Education Foundation sought avenues to acknowledge and celebrate computer science and STEM education. Later that year, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed House Resolution 77 - Academic Competition Resolution of 2013. This resolution was the architect for designing a computer science, or "app" competition that each House member could compete in. The inaugural Congressional App Challenge was held in 2015. Ohio's 9th Congressional District has participated in the Congressional App Challenge since 2019. In 2024, 20 teams registered for the 9th District challenge. In the first seven years of the Challenge, the Congressional App Challenge has inspired over 40,000 students across all 50 states to code for Congress.

More information on the Congressional App Challenge can be found by clicking here. Information about the 2023 9th District Congressional App Challenge winners and participants can be found by clicking here. Photos of the 9th Congressional District Congressional App Challenge recognition ceremony including of 1st and 2nd place winners can be found by clicking here.

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