{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399939", "Winners of the 2016 NJ-04 Congressional App Challenge Announced", "2016-11-30", "2016", "2016-11", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) today announced the winners of the Fourth Congressional District\u2019s 2016 Congressional App Challenge (CAC), a competition for U.S. students across the nation.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe App Challenge encourages school students to become active in STEM fields, computer science and programming by creating and exhibiting their software applications,\u201d said Smith. \u201cThis challenge is an important step to inspire creativity, career skills and teamwork, which can help participating students to be poised for high-tech jobs of the future.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The winning students are from Communications High School in Wall Township. Their \u00a0app, called \u201cRecoLecture\u201d allows teachers to record and securely share lectures with students who have been invited and enrolled in the teacher\u2019s class, retaining full copyright and ownership of the recordings. \u00a0The winners\u2019 prize is a $400 credit for Amazon Web Service to be be split between the four students.\u00a0The winning students are: Connor Bruneau, of Spring Lake, Kevin Dixson, of Manasquan, Steven Topper, of Oakhurst (Ocean Township) and Armando LaMastra, of Holmdel.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Additionally, four students from Point Pleasant Borough High School in Point Pleasant Boro will receive Honorable Mentions for their app, \u201cPoint Pleasant School District Application.\u201d The app is a way for students and parents to be updated on a multitude of information related to the school. This includes school announcements, lunch information, grades, safety and many other features. Students that received Honorable Mentions are all from Point Pleasant Borough: Jane DeRensis, Jake Ippolito, Haley Hanrahan \u00a0and Devin Moeller. They will each receive congressional certificates. \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Challenge submission period closed Nov. 2, 2016. Students competed as individuals or in teams of up to four. A panel of local judges reviewed all entrants and select one winner from the Fourth District, plus honorable mentions. The winning apps from across the country will be featured on a display in the Capitol building. The national competition was launched in 2015, and this year was the first NJ-04 competition.\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The CAC was created in part to highlight how Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills are essential for economic growth and innovation, and also because the U.S. has been falling behind on these fronts. STEM occupations are projected to grow by 17 percent between 2008 and 2018, compared to 9.8 percent growth for non-STEM occupations. According to some estimates, the U.S. may be short as many as three million high-skilled tech workers by 2018. \r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cUrging young men and women to enter the STEM fields is critical to the future of our nation and necessary for the development of a 21st century, high-skilled workforce that can compete in today\u2019s global economy,\u201d Smith continued. \u201cI thank the students and judges for participating in the competition, and congratulate the winners.\u201d\r\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Internet Education Foundation serves as the operational \u201csponsor\u201d of the CAC. For more information, please visit: http://www.congressionalappchallenge.us/compete-2016/submission-process-and-rules/\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=399939"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.127517782151699, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}