VAN BUREN -- A group of ninth-graders from Coleman Freshman Academy in Van Buren received first place in the 2022 Congressional App Challenge for Arkansas' 3rd Congressional District, an annual, nationwide coding competition for middle and high school students to encourage young people to pursue science, technology, engineering and math education and computer science careers.
Two students from Bentonville High School placed second and third in the 3rd District competition.
Brannon Davidson, Adan Diaz, Isaac Sayarath and Jacob Steinsiek created the app The Legend of Mathematics, which turns solving math equations into an interactive and entertaining challenge.
Using role-playing-game technology, players are prompted to complete calculations in order to move through the different levels. Each question is associated with an enemy and one must answer correctly to defeat the combatant and advance in rank. The application cleverly disguises elementary math problems as a fun video game, according to a release from 3rd District Rep. Steve Womack's office.
Womack, R-Rogers, honored the students at the school Wednesday with a certificate and congressional medallion.
[SEE THE APP AT: rivervalleydemocratgazette.com/217appchallenge/]
"Their coding talent and creativity demonstrate the high level of skill being fostered in Arkansas," he said. "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."
A news release from Womack said this is the eighth year he has hosted the Congressional App Challenge in Arkansas's Third District. It said Arkansas has consistently had every congressional district partake in the competition, making Arkansas one of the top challenge participants per capita from across the United States.
The second place winner for Womack's district is Chandra Suda, a junior at Bentonville High School, for WorldAI. The third place winner is Sanjay Javangula, a freshman at Bentonville High School, for ClothShare.
The release said entries were reviewed by a panel of technology experts and judged on the originality, creativity, and quality of the app design. The Legend of Mathematics will be featured on a digital display in the U.S. Capitol and on the challenge website.
Michael Hensley, Coleman Freshman Academy principal, said the app will need to be transformed to a different platform in order to make it easily accessible for Van Buren students and the greater public to use. He said Coleman students in teams of up to four had the opportunity to participate in the challenge through their computer science course.
Hensley said he's impressed with the winners' ability to take their programming skills and collaborate successfully to create a winning product.
"Brannon, Adan, Isaac, and Jacob are ideal representatives of our incredible student body and staff at Van Buren Freshman Academy," he said. "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."