WASHINGTON, D.C.—House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) today announced the 2018 Congressional App Challenge winners for Louisiana’s First Congressional District. For the second year in a row, students from Northshore High School took home the prize. This year’s winners, Kiefer Armand, Jonah Delaney, Daniel Uwaifo, and John Yu created “Chemistry Reference“, a computer application that helps students learn the periodic table of elements and polyatomic ions.
Majority Whip Scalise said:
“Congratulations to Kiefer Armand, Jonah Delaney, Daniel Uwaifo, and John Yu from Northshore High School for winning the 2018 Congressional App Challenge for Louisiana’s First Congressional District. Memorizing the periodic table of elements is a common challenge for all students, and this app really does use creativity and innovation to make that task seem a lot easier. As a former software engineer, I am always excited to see students in southeast Louisiana taking an interest in the applied sciences and exploring new ways to allow technology to make our everyday lives easier. I applaud these students for their hard work and success, and commend Northshore High School for encouraging students to get more interested in developing skills in computer science and coding.”
Hack Team Sponsor Teacher, Ms. Catherine Tanguis commented:
“In an increasingly integrated and technology centered world, it is paramount for students to have a firm grasp of STEM. We live in a digital age; everything is online, allowing us to create a global community, and programming equips students with the skills needed to contribute to this community. St. Tammany Parish has embraced this call and provided opportunities for their students to learn coding skills. Through collaboration with our school’s robotics team 1912 Combustion, Operation Spark, and the addition of computer coding classes to our curriculum, members of Northshore High School Hack Team, John Yu, Jonah Delaney, Daniel Uwaifo, and Kiefer Armand, have continued to lead the effort to promote programming and software development skills, winning for the second year in a row the Congressional App Challenge. The Congressional App Challenge has provided an invaluable opportunity for our students to advance their coding skills in a real world contribution. This year, our team created an interactive science reference, including an interactive catalog of elements, to support science teachers and students. The Congressional App Challenge not only inspired our students to code, but has emphasized the importance of computer coding and STEM in our schools to the wider community.
“Continuing these efforts, our Hack Team has spread the spirit of programming beyond their team by promoting coding in their schools and communities, such as by working with Major League Hacking to organize the first ‘Local Hack Day’, an international coding day where participants work collaboratively on software projects. Last year, the event encompassed 34 countries and 6,000 people; this year is shaping up to be the biggest one yet.”