Rep. Johnson announces winners of this year’s Congressional App Challenge

Congressman Hank Johnson plays a game created by Rockdale Magnet students. Image Source: Michelle Kim for Rockdale County Public Schools

ROCKDALE, GA – On Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) recognized the top three students of his Congressional App Challenge — a competition that encourages U.S. high school students to create their own mobile applications.

Eight students from the Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology made up three teams that swept the competition. The reception was held at their school.

First place went to the four-member team of sophomore Austin Goodloe and juniors Brandon Golston, Daniel Garner and Julaam Diop for their game, "Dungeon Delver II." Inspired by the original Super Mario Bros., their product is also a platform game where the main character jumps between obstacles and platforms to advance further. There are seven worlds with five levels in each dimension to play in.

Second place went to junior Cameron Bennett. His "Let's Talk" App takes the awkwardness out of situations and allows people to connect through similarities on their phones by holding conversations with one another through the app.

Third place went to sophomores CJ Hardnett, Jonas Woodruff and Jaxon Cowles. Their "Orbit" game takes a futuristic spin on the classic arcade game "Galaga." The game, which Congressman Johnson played at the app reception, takes you on a journey through space in which you are the captain of a spaceship battling several villains and foes.

Representative Johnson's office collected more than 36 submissions from high schools throughout the Fourth District, which includes parts of DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Newton Counties and all of Rockdale County.

"Dungeon Delver II" will be displayed on the Congressional App Challenge website and will be exhibited on a digital display in the Capitol Building for the year. This year's submissions nearly doubled the amount of entries from Rep. Johnson's app challenge last year.

The panel of judges for this year's competition were from AT&T. Led by Senior Specialist Latonya Peele, the five-member panel represented several arms of AT&T, such as Programing and Business Management. They evaluated the apps on creativity, convenience, and mobility.

The App Challenge highlighted the value of computer science and STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Of the 435 members of the House of Representatives, Congressman Johnson ranked in the top 15 percent of his peers for the number of app competition submissions.

"Science and technology are transforming our world and we must do all we can to ensure our kids are taking part in and helping shape the changing economy," said Johnson. "I'm very proud of the students who participated in this challenge. They are some of the Fourth Congressional District's brightest, and they took on cutting-edge technology that is becoming an increasing part of all our lives."

"I look forward to more girls and young ladies getting involved in coding and competing with our young men."

At the recognition ceremony, Peele, Rockdale County Commissioner Doreen Williams, Rockdale County School Board Members Wales Barksdale, Pamela Brown, Heather Duncan and Katrina Young – joined the school's Principal Dr. Debra Arnold and the student's teacher Dametria Williams – in helping Congressman Johnson congratulate the top three competitors.