PEORIA, IL—Congressman Darin LaHood announced today that a team from Richwoods High School, which participates in Peoria Public Schools’ AppsCo program, are the winners of the 2017 Congressional App Challenge (CAC) for the 18th Congressional District. The team made up of Mariah Cooley, Ruby Hirschman, Shaelyn Johnson, and Montreal Thomas won the contest with their App developed for Peoria’s Riverfront Museum.

“I’m honored to host the Congressional App Challenge in the 18th Congressional District to encourage young people to pursue skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math,” said Rep. LaHood. “I’m so impressed with the vision and hard work that went into the Peoria Riverfront Museum App, which showcases the incredible talents of our students from central Illinois.”

About the app:
The purpose of the Peoria Riverfront Museum App is to enhance visitor experience at the museum by providing exclusive content and geo-fencing functions, improving convenience, and creating a loyalty program for users. The App also provides helpful data to museum administrators about visitors.  To learn more about the App, you can view the submission video from AppsCo.

[[{"fid":"482","view_mode":"full","fields":{"format":"full","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"2":{"format":"full","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"style":"height: 288px; width: 560px; margin: 5px; float: right;","class":"media-element file-full","data-delta":"2"}}]]About the Congressional App Challenge:
The Congressional App Challenge’s mission is to inspire, include, and innovate efforts around STEM, coding, and computer science education. The Challenge encourage kids to learn how to code through annual district-wide competitions hosted by Members of Congress for their district. Students in participating districts code original applications for the chance to be selected for recognition by their Member of Congress, win prizes, and have their work put on display in the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The district-wide competitions, now in their third year, take place from July through early November. The CAC is executed by the Congressional staff of each participating district, and coordinated by the Congressional Internet Caucus and the non-governmental sponsor of the project, the Internet Education Foundation.