WEST DES MOINES — Iowa Third District Democrat Representative Cindy Axne today (Wednesday), announced the winners of the 2022 Congressional App Challenge for Iowa’s Third Congressional District as a team from Parkview Middle School in Ankeny, who developed the Stock Market Learning Game application. The team consisted of  seventh graders Lucius Ray and Carter Marovets. The duo created the app to teach students about the stock market and its function through a game, and players advance through levels and earn points while learning along the way.

Lucius and Carter were inspired to create this app because they wanted to help others learn more about finance and investing, and they wanted people to be able to learn about these topics from a young age. This is what inspired them to create an app that would allow users to have fun, while keeping them engaged with the material as they advance through game.

“It is my pleasure to recognize Lucius Ray and Carter Marovets of Parkview Middle School the winners of the 2022 Congressional App Challenge from my district,” said Rep. Axne. “With their app, Lucius and Carter have shown how much effort they’ve put into their school work and into learning how to code, and what an amazing job the Ankeny school system is doing at teaching STEM. Lucius’s and Carter’s app teaches students important lessons about the stock market, which is especially important today as other apps that encourage and sometimes even trick young investors into risking their money become more popular.”

The competition was judged by a panel of three judges. This year’s panel of judges consisted of:

Dr. Marjorie McGuire-Welch- President, Southwestern Community College
Brian Waller- Iowa Governor’s STEM Advisory Council
Geoff Wood- Founder, Gravitate Coworking

The Congressional App Challenge is a nationwide competition for middle school and high school students designed to engage students with STEM education and emphasize computer science careers in every corner of the country. Each participating Congressional district selects its local winner, who are then eligible for further awards for the entire class of 2022 winners.