Merrimack Student Wins 1st Congressional District App Challenge​

MERRIMACK, NH — U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-NH, announced that Meera Kurup of Merrimack has won the First District Congressional App Challenge for her ALZPoetry app, which helps Alzheimer’s patients listen to poetry recorded by their family members. The Congressional App Challenge aims to engage students in coding and computer science, according to a press statement on Jan. 2, 2017. More than 4,100 students participated in the 14-week regional competitions, and they submitted over 1,270 original student-created apps.

“I am pleased to announce that Meera Kurup of Merrimack has won the 2017 Congressional App Challenge for the First District,” said Shea-Porter. “Meera’s ALZPoetry app will bring tremendous joy to so many Alzheimer’s patients and their families. Congratulations to Meera and to all the New Hampshire students who coded and submitted apps for the Congressional App challenge.”

The winners are listed online at CongressionalAppChallenge.us. High school students from around New Hampshire’s 1st District competed in the Congressional App Challenge by submitting their own original coded app. This year’s judges selected Meera Kurup’s ALZPoetry app as the winner.

Volunteering at a senior living community center as a Poetry Club Coordinator inspired Bishop Guertin High School student Kurup to develop the app. While volunteering at the center, she met many residents who had Alzheimer's and had difficulty remembering their past. They created the Poetry Club to bring the residents happiness and enjoyment through poetry. Kurup decided to bring her two passions, technology and poetry, together to help Alzheimer’s patients and their families.

Shea-Porter will soon host Kurup at her Dover office and present Kurup with a First Place certificate. The Congressional App Challenge will invite winners from across the country to showcase their apps to Members of Congress and members of the tech community at #HouseOfCode, a reception on Capitol Hill to be held in April 2018. Their work is eligible to be featured for one year on the permanent display in the U.S. Capitol Building and on the House.gov website. Each winning student will also be awarded $250 in Amazon Web Service credits.

Image via YouTube; text submitted by Marjorie Connolly.