By Michele Robertson
Three Carlsbad High School students recently learned they won the Congressional App Challenge for New Mexico’s second congressional district.
In attendance for the announcement via a Zoom meeting in November were U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (N.M.-02), students Rubye Chappa, Jonethan Camarena, and Raj Bhakta, as well as Nicole Olsson-Dail, CHS Computer Science and Mathematics teacher, Bruce Daughtry, CHS BIT Principal, Steven Speyrer, CHS Secondary Superintendent, and Lavern Shan, CHS Deputy Superintendent.
Olsson-Dail was informed about the Congressional App Challenge through a CHS
district email in September. Students needed to register to compete in the
challenge by September 30. Olsson-Dail presented it to her AP Computer
Science A and her AP Computer Science Principles students. Rubye, Jonethan, and Raj got together and decided to design the app using JavaScript and had about 600-plus lines of code.
The deadline for completion was October 24, according to a press release from Olsson-Dail.
The Congressional App Challenge is a national competition aimed at encouraging high school students to learn how to code and create their own applications. Each year, middle and
high school students who either live or attend school in their congressional district are encouraged to apply. The first-place winner’s app is eligible to be highlighted in the United States Capitol Building for a year and featured on House.gov. In the spring, the winning students are also invited to the House of Code Reception in Washington, DC, to celebrate their accomplishments. The cost to attend the House of Code Reception would be at the student’s expense, the release stated.
“I am thrilled and proud of Rubye, Jonethan, and Raj for earning this prestigious computer science award. As they pursue their dreams and aspirations, countless opportunities lie ahead. I have no doubt they will achieve remarkable things in the future.” said Olsson-
Dail.
Principal Daughtry said, “This innovative project showcases their talent, creativity, and
compassion for others.”
The students created an app called Flip-Side. Flip Side is a discreet app crafted to support individuals facing domestic violence. It features a local resource search and a planning section, all cleverly embedded within the interface of a simple game. This design ensures users can access critical tools and resources without fear of their activity being discovered, stated the release.
“Flip-Side is designed to help people in domestic violence situations get out safely,” Chappa said.
“The app is designed to look like a Simon Says memory game. There are four colors, and you have to tap them in the right order,” Camerena said.
The students worked on the app outside school hours and completed their project in three weeks. They then submitted a video for Representative Vasquez to review. When they found out they were the winners, Chappa said it was very exciting, and Camerena said he didn’t believe it at first, but Bhakta was confident, saying, ‘I just knew we were going to win.’
“It was a lot of hard work, and it didn’t seem super grand, but having other people see it as an important resource was encouraging,” Chappa said.
Following the prompt of Civic Good, the team looked at past projects and then looked at statistics in this region. They found the statistics on domestic violence to be disheartening and wanted to help with that. The trio would love to see it become an available app, but they all readily agreed they need to “beautify it” before it goes public.
Currently, the app can service zip codes in the Carlsbad and Artesia areas, as well as Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Las Cruces, with hopes to expand the app to more zip codes.
“We hope this will raise awareness and support for such apps, as well as contribute to existing organizations and apps,” said Bhakta.
Future plans for Chappa include attending college for mechanical engineering and music performance. Bhakta is looking at going into engineering of some sort, perhaps a double major. Camarena plans to attend college as well and is undecided as of right now, but said pre-med was a possibility.
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