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Rep. Becca Balint Names Thetford Academy Student 2024 Congressional App Challenge Winner

South Burlington, VT, December 3, 2024

South Burlington, V.T. — On Monday, Rep. Becca Balint hosted an event highlighting the winner of the Congressional App Challenge. The winner, Elijah Renner of East Orange, VT, submitted “Lymely,” an app that leverages emerging AI methods and public data to create cost-effective Lyme disease safety tools.  

Renner was inspired to make “Lymely” after a close friend contracted Lyme and still experiences long term symptoms. Renner knew that treating Lyme early prevents long-term effects. His app is focused on two tools: reliable risk assessment and rash analysis. Through “Lymely,” users can accurately judge their risk assessment based on a series of criteria and analyze photos of rashes for probability of Lyme disease. Judges noted this app showed great technical skill and practicality.  

“I was thrilled to see the creative, forward-thinking, and solution-oriented apps created by Vermont students this year,” Rep. Balint said. “Today’s event was an excellent display of the work our students put in to find innovative solutions to everyday challenges. Hosted at one of the centers of Vermont innovation, Beta Technologies, this year’s Congressional App Challenge highlighted the bright future we have here in Vermont for new technology and ingenuity.” 

Officially launched by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, the Congressional App Challenge is a nationwide effort that allows students to compete against their peers in each Congressional district by creating an app. The Challenge is designed to promote innovation and engagement in computer science. The competition is open to all middle and high school students in the United States. The app designed by Vermont’s first-place winner is featured alongside the winners from other Congressional districts in the United States Capitol Building and on the main website for the U.S. House: House.gov. 

Judges for the 2024 Vermont Congressional App Challenge include:  

  • Denise Reilly-Hughes, Vermont Secretary of Digital Services 
  • Vincent Moeykens, Beta Technologies 

For more information, please visit the official Congressional App Challenge website at CongressionalAppChallenge.us.  

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