U.S. House of Representative Jason Crow has named Devon Quispe, a Heritage High School senior, as the winner of the Congressional App Challenge in Colorado’s 6th district. Devon submitted Bem Chavito, an app that is able to bring immigrants into contact with immigration resources around them. 

When asked why he was passionate about creating an app that aids immigrants, Devon said, “It worries me to think about how in the current political climate, some struggle to survive with government programs like WIC cut off to immigrants. To me, saving innocent lives isn’t divided amongst political lines but rather lines of humanity. I wanted to be a part of the side that finds a solution to make a difference.” He hopes to encourage other students to better their communities by using their computer science skills. Devon and other app winners are invited to Washington, D.C. to demonstrate their apps to members of Congress and staff on March 24, 2020.

Over 10,000 students registered for the 2019 Congressional App Challenge. These students created and submitted 2,177 functioning apps, marking the end of the most successful Congressional App Challenge to date. All together, 304 Members of Congress hosted Congressional App Challenges in their districts across 48 states, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands and Washington, D.C.

The CAC is an initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where members of Congress host contests in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. The non-profit Internet Education Foundation provides the CAC with supplemental staffing and support. In the five years of the Congressional App Challenge, the program has yielded 1134 App Challenges across 48 states. Thousands of functional apps have been created by over 25,000 students and participant demographics surpass all industry diversity metrics.