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)
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)
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)
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)
