Latin Learner wins Rep. André Carson’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Indiana’s Seventh District
Rep. Carson has named Owen Warner of Park Tudor and Daniel Liu of Park Tudor as the winners of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Indiana’s Seventh District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Latin Learner, the students said, “We were inspired to create Latin Learner upon learning of a recent decline in the relevance of Latin among high schoolers. In the past six years, there has been a 31% drop in the number of U.S. students studying Latin, as well as a 7-percentage-point decline in the number of students getting scores of 3 or higher on the AP Latin exam. Additionally, Latin students often get asked, ‘Why do you study Latin? Isn’t it a dead language?’ Above all else, this question has inspired us to create Latin Learner! Studying Latin helps with vocabulary, standardized tests, careers in law, careers in medicine, and so much more!
We plan to work with our former middle school curriculum advisor to share Latin Learner with 7th and 8th grade students selecting their elective and foreign language courses, as well as with our high school Latin teacher to incorporate Latin Learner into the Latin I curriculum. We are hoping students across our middle and high schools, as well as students across the entire U.S., will use Latin Learner to realize the relevance and value of studying Latin and the Classics!”
This year’s Challenge saw an unprecedented level of participation, with 374 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions, surpassing the previous record of 340. A remarkable 11,334 students from across the United States competed in this year’s Challenge, marking an impressive increase of nearly 1,000 participants compared to the previous record set in 2019. The enthusiasm and creativity these students display is a testament to the growing interest in technology and signal a bright future for American innovation. The surge of ingenuity continued with a whopping 3,645 original applications flooding in, nearly a thousand more than the previous year’s high. This remarkable growth showcases the exceptional talent and innovation within our nation’s youth.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official 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. This resounding show of bipartisan support emphasizes the critical importance of STEM education in today’s rapidly evolving world. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during our annual #HouseOfCode festival. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from Omidyar Network, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2024, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.