Courtney Announces the Winner of the 2016 Congressional App Chalenege

WASHINGTON, DC —Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) announced that Peter Dentch, a senior at Fitch High School in Groton has won the annual Second District Congressional App Challenge. Dentch’s app is titled Mini Robot Control. The app challenge is designed to inspire high school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications. The competition is also intended to demonstrate the value of computer science and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and encourage students to engage in these fields.

“I am very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2016 Congressional App Challenge for Connecticut’s Second Congressional District is Peter Dentch from Fitch High School in Groton,” said Courtney. “Once again this year we had a number of remarkable submissions to the Second Congressional District App Challenge, but Peter’s creation really stood out. Our panel of judges from the University of Connecticut was impressed by Peter’s advanced understanding of computer programming, and believe that his app can help make robotic control less intimidating and more accessible for the average person. I applaud Peter and all of our student competitors this year for their aptitude and time dedication to create these incredible programs. This nationwide app challenge is designed to engage high school students in computer science and learn how to code by creating their own applications. We need to demonstrate the value of computer science and education and encourage students to engage in these fields. I am looking forward to meeting Peter soon and seeing his app in action.”

The 2016 Congressional App Challenge took place between July 18, 2016 and November 2, 2016. It was open to all U.S. high school students in participating congressional districts, and one winner was selected per district. Challenge participants were invited, either as individuals or as teams of up to four students, to create and submit their own software application, or ‘app’ for mobile, tablet, or other computing devices on a platform of their choice. In the Second Congressional District, the submissions were judged by members of the University of Connecticut School of Engineering.

Courtney will be visiting Dentch’s class at Fitch High School on Friday, December 16, 2016. Additional information on this event will be made available to the press prior to that date.

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