PALMETTO, Fla. — An eighth-grade student from Buffalo Creek Middle School in Palmetto was recognized for creating a software application to help classmates from Ukraine.
Jace Billingsley said he saw some students from Ukraine struggling to understand class assignments, and he wanted to help them in class.
"If I was in a place where I didn’t know anybody, I didn’t know the language, it would be hard for me, and I would want people to help me. That's what I felt for these students. I wanted to help," said 14-year-old Jace Billingsley.
Congressman Vern Buchanan recognized Jace Billingsley as the winner of the 2022 Congressional District App Challenge.
Billingsley created an app called "Class Translate," to help international students translate their lessons from English to their native language. Unlike other apps, this one is designed for the classroom and is available in numerous languages. The app also verifies the translation is accurate.
"In the future, I would like to be a web developer, a software engineer," said Billingsley.
Buchanan hailed the ingenuity of Billingsley, saying, “I can’t commend him enough for inventing such an important tool for international students. As a two-time winner of the Congressional App Challenge, Jace clearly has a bright future as an aspiring web applications developer.”
Last year, Billingsley also won the Congressional District App Challenge. He developed an app called "Code Blue," to assist healthcare workers or hospital staff during a code blue.
"The app from last year that I created, the Code Blue App, is made to help hospital staff in the resuscitation of patients that have undergone cardiac arrest or respiratory failure," said Billingsley.
Next year, Billingsley will attend #House of Code, where students see their apps displayed in the United States Capitol building, meet their representatives, and connect with other winners from across the country.
"It makes me proud that I won this award. I get to represent my school, my community, my generation, and what we can bring to the world and how we can help," said Billingsley.
The Congressional App Challenge was created by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015 and allows students to compete against their peers across the country by creating an app for desktop/PC, web, tablet, mobile, or other devices. The challenge is designed to promote innovation, STEM, and computer science.
