Congressman Burgess is pleased to host the 2023 Congressional App Challenge (CAC). The CAC is an annual competition organized by the U.S. House of Representatives for middle and high school students. This sponsored initiative affords Members of Congress the opportunity to host this contest in each district, with the mission to encourage STEM education and careers for young people from any environment and at any programming skill level. 

The Congressional App Challenge smashed previous participation records in 2022. All told, 9,011 students registered for the 2022 competition – creating 2,707 fully-functioning apps for 335 Members of Congress across 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the District of Columbia. Last year’s competition set the record for most student registrations, most apps submitted, most apps per district submitted, and most districts receiving over 20 apps.  The 2022 winning entry from the 26^th Congressional District of Texas was “ShareMe,” developed by a team comprised of Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science students: Helen Li, Madison Huang, Stephanie Xia, and Kelly Zhou. You can view their winning app here: ShareME wins Rep. Michael Burgess’ 2022 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 26th District -

This contest is held within each individual congressional district, meaning the competitors from Texas’ 26^th District will compete only against individuals within our district. The 2023 CAC is open to private, public and home-schooled students in middle and high school who reside in and/or attend school in the 26^th Congressional District of Texas. The submission deadline is November 1, 2023. Students can now pre-register for the 2023 Congressional App Challenge and start coding their apps for 2023 using the link below:

Regardless of previous experience, all interested students are welcome to participate in this unique program. Participating students are tasked with creating an app that will impress our panel of expert judges and is an opportunity to learn and forge a passion for a valued future endeavor. To be recognized as winners locally is a meaningful accolade, and TX-26’ grand prize winner will also be honored nationally. The winning entry will be displayed electronically in the U.S. Capitol building for the next year, along with other winning entries from participating congressional districts across the country. The winning apps will also be posted on the U.S. House of Representatives’ website (https://www.house.gov/educators-and-students/congressional-app-challenge) and the Congressional App Challenge website (https://www.congressionalappchallenge.us) for one year. The Congressional App Challenge is the most prestigious national prize for students in computer science!   

For further information about the Congressional App Challenge, please visit www.CongressionalAppChallenge.us. HERE is the flyer for the 2023 contest. If you have any questions, contact Robin Vaughan, Deputy District Director, in Congressman Burgess’ Lake Dallas district office by email: robin.vaughan@mail.house.gov or phone: 940-497-5031.