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Graves Announces Congressional App Challenge Winners for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, 2021 Challenge Has Begun

Washington, DC, June 25, 2021

U.S. Congressman Garret Graves (South Louisiana) announced the 2020 Congressional App Challenge Winner for Louisiana's 6th Congressional District – Mackenzie Lacombe from Baton Rouge International School. Mackenzie took place in the "House of Code" reception this spring, an opportunity for all first-place winners from around the country to demonstrate their apps directly to Members of Congress. Traditionally, the reception is held in-person in Washington D.C., but was held virtually this year. Graves was able to give Mackenzie a virtual "Capitol Tour" to celebrate her win.

Thousands of students across the country compete in district-wide competitions and create original apps, learning to advance their coding skills and inspiring careers in computer science. Many apps were submitted this year and see below for a list of all the winners.

The 2021 Congressional App Challenge officially launched this week, and more details can be found here.

2020 App Challenge Winners:

First Place – Get Hooked! – Mackenzie LaCombe (Baton Rouge International School – 9th Grade)

Second Place – Handi Organizer App – Abraham Joseph Delos Reyes (Baton Rouge International School – 10th grade)

  • Most Likely to be an Advocacy Champion
  • Teacher: Abraham Delos Reyes

Third Place – Disaster Relief Hub – Carter Mayeux & Jacob LeBlanc (Catholic High – 10th grade)

  • Most Louisiana Applicable
  • Teacher: Sheri Schoonmaker

Honorable Mentions:

Lightweight Ordering System – Charles Beam (Louisiana School for Math Science and The Arts – 12th grade)

  • Most Likely to Have a Community Impact

GET RHYTHM NOW! – Lakenedi Walker (Baton Rouge International School – 9th grade)

  • Most Likely to Go Viral
  • Teacher: Abraham Delos Reyes

About The Congressional App Challenge:

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.