Press Releases

Congressman Womack pictured with the 2022 Congressional App Challenge winners. From left to right: Brannon Davidson, Isaac Sayarath, Jacob Steinsiek, and Adan Diaz.

Van Buren, AR – February 15, 2023….Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) today honored Brannon Davidson, Adan Diaz, Isaac Sayarath, and Jacob Steinsiek—a team of 9^th graders from Coleman Freshman Academy in Van Buren—for winning the 2022 Congressional App Challenge. The annual and nationwide coding competition for middle school and high school students aims to encourage our nation’s youth to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education and computer science careers.  

Congressman Womack said, “Congratulations to Brannon, Adan, Isaac, and Jacob on this great achievement! Their coding talent and creativity demonstrate the high level of skill being fostered in Arkansas. When I read about the crossover of math and video game components of their program, I immediately thought of my grandkids. Cultivating a challenging and fun learning environment is what their app and this competition is all about. I could not be more proud of all who participated.”

Michael Hensley, Coleman Freshman Academy Principal, said, “Brannon, Adan, Isaac, and Jacob are ideal representatives of our incredible student body and staff at Van Buren Freshman Academy! We could not be prouder of them and commend them for all of the hard work and creativity they put forth to design this app. These students are shining a light on the innovative education taking place in the Van Buren School District. They each have a bright future, and we are excited to see them recognized with this prestigious honor.”

Harold Jeffcoat, Van Buren School District Superintendent, said, “Congratulations to Brannon, Adan, Isaac, and Jacob! We could not be more proud of how they have represented the Van Buren School District. The Congressional App Challenge provides students throughout Arkansas the opportunity to showcase their coding skills and we are thrilled to have Van Buren students winning 1st place. Providing a STEM focused education is important to us as students in the Van Buren School District receive coding instruction as early as kindergarten.” 

Jeff Amerine, Founder and Managing Director of Startup Junkie, said, “The Startup Junkie team has been proud to support judging the Congressional App Challenge since inception. Every year the applications the teams develop seem to get better and even more innovative.  It makes the judging process pretty difficult. The team that developed The Legend of Mathematics did a spectacular job in gamifying the process of learning and reinforcing fundamental math skills. The Congressional App Challenge always reinforces our optimism for the prospects of a bright future driven by our young innovators and entrepreneurs.”

Brannon, Adan, Isaac, and Jacob’s winning app, The Legend of Mathematics, turns solving math equations into an interactive and entertaining challenge. Utilizing role-playing-game (RPG) development technology, players are prompted to complete calculations in order to move through different levels. Each question is associated with an “enemy,” and one must answer it correctly to defeat the “combatant” and advance in rank. The application cleverly disguises elementary math problems as a fun video game, enticing students to learn and have fun at the same time. You can watch a tutorial of the winning app here.

Womack honored the winning team members with a certificate and congressional medallion at a ceremony in Van Buren. Entries were reviewed by a panel of local technology experts and judged on the originality, creativity, and quality of the app design. The judges included Jeff Amerine and Brett Amerine of Startup Junkie. The Legend of Mathematics will be featured on a digital display in the U.S. Capitol and on the Congressional App Challenge website. 

Additional honorees include:

• 2^nd Place: Chandra Suda, a junior at Bentonville High School – WorldAI
• 3^rd Place: Sanjay Javangula, a freshman at Bentonville High School – ClothShare

This is the eighth year Womack has hosted the Congressional App Challenge in Arkansas’s Third Congressional District. The Natural State has consistently had every congressional district partake in the competition, making Arkansas one of the top Congressional App Challenge participants per capita from across the United States. The 2023 edition of the competition will open up later this year.

 Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) has represented Arkansas’s Third Congressional District since 2011. He is a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

womack.house.gov

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