MCPS Student Wins Rep. Raskin's Congressional App Challenge

SILVER SPRING, MD — A senior at Montgomery Blair High School is one of two people to win U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin's 2020 Congressional App Challenge.

The challenge is part of a larger initiative launched by the U.S. House of Representatives to promote science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) innovations, and is designed to encourage students to learn coding and computer science skills. It's organized by congressional district.

Teammates Kevin Xu, a senior at Montgomery Blair High School, and Leon Si, a junior at Victoria Park Collegiate Institute Ontario, won Raskin's challenge.

Their submission, Tabulo, is a free virtual whiteboard application that can "dramatically improve the virtual learning experience for teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic," Raskin (D-08) announced in a press release. "Tabulo connects a mobile device to a computer and turns it into an enhanced drawing pad: whatever you draw or write on your phone is synchronized with the computer in real-time."

Raskin said the students were inspired to create the app when they saw teachers struggling to find a suitable replacement for classroom whiteboards during virtual instruction.

With Tabulo, teachers can invite their students to write or draw responses using their own devices. It's designed to work on any computer, regardless of its operating system, including Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, iOS, and Google Android.

"It is an honor to represent Maryland's 8th District, which is home to so many talented and inspired students, as evidenced by the many excellent entries submitted in this year's Congressional App Challenge," Raskin said. "I commend all of the student coders who submitted innovative and creative apps, and I am immensely grateful for America's dedicated teachers and educators whose commitment to their students prevails during an unprecedented era of virtual learning."

This isn't the first time Tabulo has been recognized for its unique approach to virtual learning and teacher-student collaborations.

Xu and Si also entered Tabulo into a Silicon Valley competition and won the Best App and Best Education App awards by a panel of judges that included a co-founder of YouTube.

Click here to watch a demo video about the award-winning app.