Bingham’s Jackson Howe recently became the Utah winner of the Congressional App

Challenge Award for his Bingham High app.

According to the House of Representatives, which sponsors the challenge, “The

Congressional App Challenge is designed to engage student creativity and encourage their

participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education fields. This

nationwide event allows high school students from across the country to compete against their

peers by creating and exhibiting their software application, or “app,” for mobile, tablet, or

computer devices on a platform of their choice.”

The app has many useful features to help students figure out the school, such as a

grade calculator, homework scheduler, and the lunch menu. “I use it for the bell schedule a lot,”

said Amy Shaw. Jackson said that his favorite feature is the school mapping, where you can

see yourself on a map of the school and input where your classes are to get directions to them.

This will come in very handy for new sophomores, transfer students, and even the occasional

tired senior.

Jackson’s handy invention is a great alternative for the Bingham website. “It’s just kind of

convenient,” Amy said. The app has all the information and helpful tools of the website, and it is

more easily accessible during school. “That sounds cool,” says Stockton Antczak, “I would

totally use that if I had a smart phone.”

Jackson attends JATC, and he originally made the app for part of his final project in his

web development class last year. He has made similar apps for JATC and Riverton High

School. His Bingham High School app was submitted as IOS. An android version is now

available too.

Jackson’s interest in computers began when he was about eleven-years-old. His

persistence has helped him become familiar with web design through countless hours of

practice and study. He has been accepted to BYU and hopes to continue his learning by

majoring in computer science.