CWHS students place first in Congressional App Challenge
By: Kenton Troutman
Chetek-Weyerhaeuser high school students Dagmar Beckel, Casey Haugen and Peter Wise were notified that they were awarded first place in the Congressional App Challenge for Wisconsin’s Seventh District, represented by Congressman Tom Tiffany.
The students started working on the app project at the end of May and worked together every week during their summer vacation to have the application ready to submit by Nov. 1 for review. The team called their app the “Campaign Simulator.”
As the name states, the purpose of the app is to simulate the process of moving up the political ladder in American politics. The app was designed to have a user-friendly interface. The team split up the game into three sections: local, state and federal to mirror the American political process. “Each section in the game is represented by a level of increasing difficulty. In each level, the player can run for a number of offices. Each office features different responsibilities and options for both fundraising and improving public opinion. The goal is to get elected into each office until you can run for the Office of the President,” said Dagmar Beckel-Machyckova, mother to CWHS student Dagmar. Users can run for various offices and learn how to balance fundraising and campaigning efforts to win the election. The app even includes a way for users to monitor their campaign funds, their public opinion score and the time remaining until the election.
The students faced challenges during their project including scheduling conflicts, technical difficulties and learning a new programming language.
The team exemplified discipline especially when the last thing anyone wanted to think about was homework, deadlines or school activities. The level of dedication this team brought to their project would make most working adults rethink their work ethic—Wise is a sophomore, and Haugen and Beckel are high school freshmen. The app is geared toward teens to encourage the next generation’s interest in the American political process.
The team has been invited to the #HouseofCode Capitol Hill Reception in Washington D.C., where winning apps are eligible to be displayed in the U.S. Capitol building and be featured on the House of Representatives’ website at house.gov.
Congressman Tiffany’s office received more than fifteen submissions for this competition in his district. “The computer science field is continuing to grow, and I am always amazed by the creativity and skills so many young students in Wisconsin’s Seventh District possess,” said Congressman Tiffany. “I thank each student for their submission, the teachers who help make this competition possible, and I congratulate each winner on their outstanding work.” Congressman Tiffany called Beckel to congratulate her on the team’s accomplishment and told her he thought the app was beneficial for adults as well as teens and said he wished the team’s app existed when he was young.
The Congressional App Challenge was officially launched by The House of Representatives in 2015. According to Tom Tiffany’s website, the challenge allows students to compete against their peers by creating an application for desktop/PC, web, tablet, mobile, Raspberry Pi, or other devices. This competition is open to all middle school and high school students grades 6-12 in the 7th Congressional District of Wisconsin. The winner from the 7th Congressional District, chosen by a panel of expert judges, will be featured on CongressionalAppChallenge.us.
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