By Crystal Hayduk
Congressman Tim Walberg visited Chelsea High School on Feb. 22 to present awards to Michigan’s 7th District first and second place winners of the third annual Congressional App Challenge.
The Chelsea High School students who received awards were part of computer teacher Melissa McIntosh’s App Design class held during the first trimester of the current school year.
“This was the first year that App Design has been taught at CHS, and I’m very proud of the students’ accomplishments,” said McIntosh. “We offered two sections of it, and we had two winners.”
The winners were announced on Dec. 6, 2017, during Computer Science Education week. (Related story here: https://chelseaupdate.com/chelsea-high-school-students-win-2017-congressional-app-challenge/.) (For a complete list of winning students, visit http://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/about/2017-winners/.)
Four students working as a team – Madison Burlett, Rose LaForest, Cate Start, and Alex Steinaway – won first place for their app, “M.A.D. Planner.” Burlett and her teammates demonstrated the app to Walberg during his visit to the school. She said the app’s acronym stands for Mutually Assured Distractions and is designed to simplify event planning, including large, formal events. “The app also has a budget port, which should help event planners stay on track with spending,” said Burlett.
The four students worked together for about two weeks to complete the required class assignment. Students had the freedom to choose to work in groups or individually to design an application for a computer, tablet, or mobile phone that would solve a problem the students identified.
Robbie Moore tied for second place with his app, “CHS Sign In/Out” which is now used to keep track of students entering and leaving the counseling office.
Pending Chelsea School District Board of Education approval, McIntosh will travel with Start and Steinaway to Washington, D.C. in mid-April to attend the #HouseOfCode event.
Walberg told the students he was proud of their achievements and knowledge of coding that allowed them to solve real-world problems. He also said that computer skills are in demand in the work force, with even greater need expected in the future.
More than 4,900 students from 190 Congressional districts nationwide participated in the 2017 challenge.
