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List of Louisiana Third District Congressional App Challenge winners

cong app winner.jpg
Posted at 10:54 AM, Jan 24, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-12 23:22:58-05

UL Lafayette released a full list of the 2019 Louisiana Third District Congressional App Challenge winners on Friday.

Congressman Clay Higgins was joined by CGI, the UL Lafayette’s Informatics Research Institute, CajunCodeFest and Waitr, with Congressman Clay Higgins to host this year's challenge with the goal of encouraging students in Louisiana’s Third District to explore STEM fields including computer science.

Eleven teams made up of middle and high school students competed for a chance to win an invitation to present their app to members of Congress in Washington, D.C. in March.

During the two-month challenge, students learned to code and create an app with guidance from professional developers and computer science students. Each team created a video submission of their app for consideration.

Launched in 2016 by members of Congress, the competition is now held 48 states. According to a press release, 10,534 students developed 2,177 apps in 2019.

An awards ceremony was held in December.

Louisiana’s Third District Winner

App Name: HappyBytes – Helps depression or suicidal thoughts by offering options
Team: Brendan Duhon, Jaydon Huval, and Cailey Bianchini (DTSMA), Weston Simon (OCHS)
Team Mentors: Blanche Trahan (Northwestern State University), and Cody Latiolais, (CGI)

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Louisiana’s Third District Winner (Pictured L-R) Joel Robideaux, former Mayor-President of Lafayette, Jaydon Huval, Cailey Bianchini, Weston Simon, Brendan Duhon and Sarah Dake, Office of Congressman Clay Higgins. Not Pictured Cody Latiolais, CGI and Blanche Trahan, Northwestern State University, team mentors

The HappyBytes team is raising money to make the trip to Washington, D.C. for a presentation to Congress. Click here for that fundraiser.

Best Use of Block Programming Award, sponsored by Global Data Systems

App Name: TreeHugger – Raises awareness on environmental issues and suggests ways to help
Team: Savion Siner, Philip Mamolo, Justine Bennett (Carencro High School)
Team Mentors: Taylor Cyr (SLCC)

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Best Use of Block Programming Award, sponsored by Global Data Systems (Pictured L-R) Anne Swanson, Manager, U.S. STEM@CGI, Bob Miller, Chief Operating Officer, Global Data Systems, Philip Mamolo, Taylor Cyr, Team Mentor, SLCC and Sarah Dake, Office of Congressman Clay Higgins. Not Pictured Justine Bennett and Savion Siner, students

Most Innovative App, sponsored by Global Data Systems

App Name: FloodBud – Provides user-reported street flooding information during a storm
Team: Joel Huval (Homeschool) and Parker Flint (Lafayette High School)
Team Mentors: Matthew Chmiel (Techneaux Technology Services) and Julien Bonin and Chase Chapman (UL Lafayette)

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Most Innovative App, sponsored by Global Data Systems (Pictured L-R) Anne Swanson, Manager, U.S. STEM@CGI, Bob Miller, Chief Operating Officer, Global Data Systems, Matthew Chmiel, Techneaux Technology Services, Parker Flint, and Sarah Dake, Office of Congressman Clay Higgins. Not Pictured: Joel Huval, student and Julien Bonin and Chase Chapman, team mentors

Community Connector Award, sponsored by LUS Fiber

App Name: geauxALERT – Delivers selected news alerts for crime, road closures, etc
Team: Braxton Guillet, Samantha Matt, Clara Novak, Noah Justus (Ascension Episcopal School)
Team Mentors: Brandon Byerley and Marc LeDoux (Noble Plastics)

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Community Connector Award, sponsored by LUS Fiber (Pictured L-R) Sarah Dake, Office of Congressman Clay Higgins, Morgan Vondenstein, Ascension Episcopal School, Braxton Guillet, Noah Justus, Clara Novak, Samantha Matt, Marc Ledoux, Noble Plastics, and Joel Robideaux, former Mayor-President of Lafayette. Not Pictured: Brandon Byerley, team mentor