Larson Announces Winner of the First District’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge
East Hartford, CT – Today, Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01) announced that Ryan Duong, a student at South Windsor High School, won the First District's 2023 Congressional App Challenge for his “ClockIn!” schedule planning app.
“I want to congratulate Ryan on his amazing achievement,” said Larson. “He furthered his passion for coding by entering this competition and his inventive scheduling app strikes an important balance between time management and mindfulness. I want to thank his teacher, Joseph Fazzino, for supporting him and other students to explore STEM fields and take on new opportunities like the Congressional App Challenge.”
“My venture into coding started with a simple Google search at eight years old: ‘free Minecraft.’ The result was a years-long venture into the world of video games, that blossomed into another years-long venture of crafting them,” said Ryan Duong. “It was through this here I learned how to code, combining programming with the arts to craft something that made people laugh, smile, and just have fun. So, when I looked into branching out through the Congressional App Challenge, I wanted to craft something that could still retain that same premise. That's how the idea for ‘ClockIn’ came about, being another way for me to make something meaningful, while furthering my skills. The Challenge was the prime opportunity to sharpen them!”
“Ryan Duong is one of my AP Physics students, where he is among the brightest and hardest working in his class,” said Joseph Fazzino, teacher at South Windsor High School. “Ryan approaches his coursework with a sense of thoroughness and efficiency that separates him from his peers, and with his combination of determination and genuine enthusiasm for STEM, it does not surprise me at all he would create such a unique and valuable tool. We are extremely proud of him here and look forward to what he comes up with next.”
The Congressional App Challenge accepted computer programs or apps written in any programming language and for any digital platform. The Challenge was open to middle and high school students across the 1st District. In 2022, the challenge saw 2,707 apps submitted from over 9,000 students from across the nation. The "ClockIn!" app will be eligible for display at the U.S. Capitol and will be featured on the House website.
In 2013, Larson voted for the Academic Competition Resolution, which created the Congressional App Challenge, recognizing STEM and computer skills are a cornerstone of economic growth in the 21st century. For more information about the Congressional App Challenge, visit CongressionalAppChallenge.us.