PEORIA, IL – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-18) announced today that a team from Richwoods High School, which participates in Peoria Public Schools’ AppsCo program, are the winners of the 2019 Congressional App Challenge. The Richwoods High School team made up of Cassidy Miles-Coleman, Katrina Crawford, Aditi Tripathi, Brianna Hill, and Rachel Bousek, are taught by Brian Michael and designed an app for the Wildlife Prairie Park to enhance the visitor experience.
“I am pleased to announce that AppsCo students from Peoria’s Richwoods High School have won this year’s Congressional App Challenge for the 18th District of Illinois,” stated Rep. LaHood. “Not only did these students display exceptional coding and technical skills in their application, but their innovative design will provide an important resource to individuals exploring Wildlife Prairie Park.
“This year’s Challenge brought a variety of applicants from across central and west-central Illinois, and it was the most competitive competition we’ve had over the last three years. The Congressional App Challenge always presents an exciting opportunity for students to showcase their talent in the innovative technology field. Computer science and STEM education are critical to our nation’s long-term success, and I will continue to promote the importance of these programs through this Challenge and in Congress.”
Background:
Each year, Congressional districts across the country hold App Challenges to inspire, include, and innovate efforts around STEM, coding, and computer science. Across the nation, this year’s Congressional App Challenge had the highest participation rate since beginning in 2013.
Illinois’ 18th Congressional District App Challenge
- 12 students participated in this year’s App Challenge with six applications total
- The competition was judged by three faculty members from 18th District Universities, including Bradley University, Western Illinois University, and Illinois State University
- Applicants were judged based on the quality of their ideas, implementation of the idea, and ability to demonstrate coding and programming skills
Illinois’ 18th District Winner
- App Name: Wildlife Prairie Park
- AppsCo student group from Richwoods High School, taught by Brian Michael
- The team:
- Cassidy Miles-Coleman
- Katrina Crawford
- Aditi Tripathi
- Brianna Hill
- Rachel Bousek
- The Wildlife Prairie Park App is a useful tool for Wildlife Prairie Park visitors and members with enhanced content, click to call, directions, general information about the park, GPS maps of many park amenities, event calendar, loyalty program, exclusive coupons, direct lodging reservations, membership information, geo-fencing, push notifications, analytics dashboard, link to e-store, and more
- You can view their submission here
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