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Agawam students win Congressional App Challenge with journaling app; plans to refine and publish
Summary
Two Agawam High School students and their teacher presented JournalLingo, an app to incentivize daily journaling; the team won the Congressional App Challenge, will be featured on House.gov and displayed in the U.S. Capitol for a year, and plans to improve the app for release to app stores.
Two Agawam High School students and their programming‑team advisor presented JournalLingo — a journaling app designed to encourage daily writing through a points and sticker reward mechanic — after winning the Congressional App Challenge for their congressional district.
The presentation to the Agawam School Committee described the app’s purpose, development tools and next steps. Students Aidan Jordan and Betilda (Matilda) Lara Shell said they coded the app in JavaScript using AppLab on Code.org and built account, journaling, storage and a points‑based shop for stickers. Teacher Matt Stinson, the programming team advisor, introduced the students and noted the programming team’s long history.
Why it matters Committee members praised the students’ technical work and production quality, and said they hoped for an update when the app is publicly available. The students said their aim was to create a safe, private space for daily writing and to make journaling more engaging for students who have timed writing assignments or therapeutic needs.
How the app works and achievements The students described an account system with saved journal history, title and date stamps for entries, daily login points accumulation, a shop to buy stickers with points, and password protection. They said the sticker “play” feature is still in development and that persistent storage is limited by the device’s storage capacity. The team reported spending roughly 250 hours coding and 72 hours producing the submission video.
Recognition and next steps The presenters said winners will be displayed on house.gov and at the U.S. Capitol for one year, receive a formal certificate, and were invited to an event called House of Code. They said they received recognition from their congressman at a ceremony and that they have a copyright waiver if they release the app publicly. The students said they plan to continue improving the design, promote the app on social media and hope to release it to app stores by the end of the school year.
What speakers said Matt Stinson, programming team advisor: “I’m honored to be a teacher in the Agawam Public School District and honored to have run this club for all 17 years. I’m so proud of these two students.”
Student Aidan Jordan: “We coded JournalLingo in JavaScript on AppLab. The purpose of our app is to create a space for individuals to improve their writing skills while also being rewarded for their progress.”
Ending Members of the committee congratulated the students and asked for an update if and when the app becomes available in the App Store.
