Handshake wins Rep. Jake Auchincloss’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Massachusetts’s Fourth District
Rep. Auchincloss has named Ritika Roy, an 11th grader at Bishop Feehan High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Massachusetts’s Fourth District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Handshake, the student said, “Experiences shape our view of the world and our values. Those who we surround ourselves with bear an impact on our identity and thoughts. One friend that I have taught me the importance of communication and the inclusion of all. I was inspired to create Handshake by a friend who has a special hearing ability. My friend communicates with sign language. However, at the time, the majority of the school, including myself, had a limited base in sign language. As a result, my friend was often excluded from the community, unable to express their feelings and thoughts to our peers. Furthermore, this language barrier between me and my friends would hinder our communication. This language barrier and watching my friend’s exclusion from our classmates showed me the importance of including all to create a more complete and whole community.
Breaking the language barrier between ASL and non-ASL users helps engage all in a community, reducing others from being excluded. Handshake has a simple and user-friendly design. It is not a sign language learning app but rather an app for facilitating conversations. Conversations are often fast-paced, therefore Handshake is a simple app without many fancy features. Its simplicity allows it to process information quickly, ensuring fast, real-time communication and allowing one to carry out a conversation half in English and half in sign language without any pauses to wait for the app to catch up.
The second half of this app, the translation from English to ASL, was designed to facilitate one’s understanding of ASL. This section of the app serves as a miniature dictionary, where one can search efficiently for words in sign language without accessing different applications. By connecting all members of society, we can ensure that all perspectives are expressed and received, thereby growing individuals and an inclusive community.”
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.