Four ASMSA teams earn app challenge awards

Four teams from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts earned recognition in the Congressional App Challenge sponsored by Fourth District U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman.

The Congressional App Challenge is a competition aimed at encouraging U.S. high school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications. The challenge is intended to highlight the value of computer science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and encourage students to engage in these fields.

Teams from ASMSA won first, second, third and fifth place in the Fourth District contest. The fourth-place team was from Fouke High School, one of the school districts supported through ASMSA’s Coding Arkansas’ Future initiative.

ASMSA seniors Jackson Gregory of Hot Springs and Joe Sartini of Benton won first place for their app “Fuelr.” The app helps drivers of electric vehicles locate recharging stations and notifies them when they are leaving areas with access to chargers.

The second-place team created an app called “Math Box” that helps students access and study mathematical formulas. The app was developed by juniors John Ostermueller of Little Rock, Gavin Glenn of Bryant, Denver Ellis of Paron and Sanidhya Tripathi of Conway.

Juniors Kenzie Glass of Prescott, Kristie Glass of Prescott and Noah Sherry of DeQueen won third place for their app “uBox.” The app helps high school students store and organize their awards and achievements to make applying for college admissions and scholarships easier.

Seniors Alex Smith of Sheridan, Carson Cato of Bryant, Tyler Brightwell of Cave City and Lauryn White of Little Rock won fifth place for their app called “Academic Resurrection.” The app connects students with peer tutors.

“I’m so proud of what these students accomplished in such a short period of time,” said Daniel Moix, ASMSA’s computer science education specialist who also served as the teams’ sponsor. “This challenge encourages kids to ‘go behind the screens,’ experience what life is like for mobile app developers.

“They had to work together, solve problems and learn new skills to bring their ideas to life. We are thankful to Representative Westerman for sponsoring our district and bringing these experiences to our students.”

Winners were announced at a reception held Nov. 10 at Mid-America Science Museum in Hot Springs. Westerman presented each team member with a certificate recognizing their achievement. Arkansas Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin also attended the reception.

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