Falmouth student second-time winner of app challenge

John Wahlig, who attends Falmouth High School, has won the Congressional App Challenge for the second year in a row.   

His submission, “Midway,” aims to bridge partisan divides by providing a platform for people of different political beliefs to discuss issues. 

Wahlig said he created the app to connect those with different political ideologies in order to help them find common ground. 

In his video submission, Wahlig spelled out the need for his app. “Being taught to avoid talking about politics has led to a lack of understanding of politics. Rather, we should be taught how to have civil conversations about difficult issues. This message is of the utmost importance in today’s America as citizens grow more politically divided every day, thanks to online echo chambers and a refusal to hear from the other side.

“The idea (of Midway) is simple: to provide a platform that helps those on opposing sides of the political aisle find common ground through meaningful discussion.”

This is the second consecutive year Wahlig has submitted a winning app. He and his partner, Pawan Yerramilli, won the 2017 Congressional App Challenge with a program to help diagnose concussions.

Advertisement

Wahlig is involved with hackME, Maine State Legislature Computer Science Task Force, Falmouth Girls Code, Apple WWDC Scholars, and Itvara. 

The Congressional App Challenge is a nationwide competition — members of Congress must choose to participate for students in their District to be eligible. Winning apps from each District will be displayed and recognized at an event in Washington, D.C., this spring.

Portland Supersnack program expanding 

Full Plates Full Potential has awarded a $10,248 grant to Portland Public Schools to expand its Child and Adult Care Food Program afterschool “Supersnack” program to six of their schools.

The grants will get Supersnacks to hungry children participating in afterschool programs at East End Community School, Ocean Avenue Elementary, Presumpscot Elementary, Reiche Elementary, Riverton Elementary and Amanda Rowe Elementary. 

The grant from Full Plates Full Potential bought two mobile food carts for each school and will allow Portland to serve Supersnacks four days a week at six schools, up to 50,000 additional meals. 

“These grants have two impacts: up to 500 children will be served a day, and Portland will gain up to $160,000 of new USDA Child Nutrition meal reimbursement funds each school year,” said Anna Korsen, Full Plates Full Potential’s program director.

Advertisement

The program started as a pilot during the 2017-18 school year in only two schools (Amanda Rowe and Ocean Avenue) for only one day a week. 

Hardy Girls Healthy Women seeks nominations 

Hardy Girls Healthy Women is seeking nominations for its Girls Rock! Awards in six categories: STEM, athletic achievement, entrepreneurship, health advocacy, community organizing, and defying the odds for success.

Last year’s winners included Kahler Marsh of Scarborough for advocating for girls’ equal access to sports, such as athletic facilities, coaching, or equipment, and Riley Mayes of Portland for unifying genders toward a climate of safety and healthy sexuality by preventing gender-based violence. 

To nominate a candidate, visit Hardy Girls Healthy Women at http://hghw.org; nominations close Dec. 31. Hardy Girls Healthy Women nominations and programming are open to any person who self-identifies as a girl or woman and gender non-conforming people. 

Falmouth nominates duo for youth leadership conference

Faculty and staff from Falmouth High School have selected Vance Boyd as the representative and Shruti Joshi as the alternate to attend the Maine Youth Leadership Seminar, a four-day seminar held on the USM campus in Gorham in June. Both students received the highest number of votes.

Since 1980, Maine high schools are invited to nominate an outstanding sophomore student for the annual seminar to seek, recognize and develop leadership skills. Their goal of MYL is to motivate Maine’s future leaders and create a network of civic-minded students who will better their communities through volunteering.

Falmouth High School student John Wahlig won the Congressional App Challenge for the second year in a row with his submission “Midway,” which aims to bridge partisan politics with a platform where people of different political beliefs can discuss issues.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.