SOMERSET— U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY-05) announced the kick-off of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge for middle and high school students. The challenge provides a national spotlight for Eastern Kentucky students who are learning to write code and design mobile apps.

“Eastern Kentucky students have submitted excellent mobile app demos for the Congressional App Challenge in recent years, proving our mountain students can compete at the highest levels of competition,” said Congressman Rogers, Dean of the House. “I’m always proud of the students who represent our region in Washington and I’m excited to see the apps that our students submit this year.”

Students from Belfry High School won the last two consecutive years. Last year, Belfry seniors Natalie Fite and Reese Varney designed an app called CONNECT to help students with mental health needs. Their winning app combined creativity, community information and mental health resources to actively help local students.

Each entry requires a student video tutorial of the app, along with a demonstration of how it was created and how it works. Students may compete as individuals or in teams of up to four students. A panel of local judges from the region will select the winning application from Kentucky’s Fifth Congressional District to be featured in Washington, DC during the annual #HouseofCode festival.

Congressman Rogers has teamed up with Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) for this year’s challenge to promote STEM education and computer science in Kentucky’s Appalachian region. Students who participate in the Congressional App Challenge will also be invited to display their work at the 2024 SOAR Summit in October in Pikeville, Kentucky before the winning app is selected.

To participate in the Congressional App Challenge, students can register at congressionalappchallenge.us. The competition deadline is October 24, 2024 at 12:00 pm/ET.

For more information about Congressman Rogers’ work in Washington and at home in Kentucky, visit halrogers.house.gov and follow him on social media.