State officials recently recognized 13 submissions from individual students and teams who came up with apps to accomplish various goals – including saving power, helping victims of domestic abuse, and developing good study habits – as part of the Lt. Governor’s second annual computing challenge.

The event, organized by the Governor’s Council on Women and Girls, is meant to encourage young women to consider careers in coding. The submissions came from schools across the state and three different age groups. Submissions jumped from 372 in the first year to 430 in 2021.

“Careers in coding and computing are the good-paying jobs of the future, yet these fields are too often lacking in representation of women and people of color,” Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz said. “The submissions recognized as part of the Lt. Governor’s computing challenge show that when young women and girls are provided opportunities and encouragement to pursue their passions in STEM learning, they can do incredible things.”

The recognized submissions were as follows:

Elementary School

Community Helpers
Jade Arroyo-Flecha, 3rd Grade
Montessori Magnet School – Hartford, CT

Power Off
Harshitha Rajashekar, Prasheetha Yerrajunnugari ,Manvitha Peela, and Nidhi Motamarri, 5th Grade
Stamford Charter School of Excellence – Stamford, CT

True Friend
Shreya Nambiar, 5th Grade
Pleasant Valley Elementary School – South Windsor, CT

Middle School

Small Changes
Devi Patel-Gandhi, Misthi Patel-Gandhi, 6th and 5th Grades
Brooklyn Middle School – Brooklyn, CT

Be Positive: A Platformer
Genevieve Corricelli, 7th Grade
East Granby Middle School – East Granby, CT

High School

Carbon Savvy
Zoe Akwanda, 9th Grade
Platt Technical High School – Milford, CT

Open Up
Rik Roy, 10th Grade
Ellington High School, Ellington, CT

Breathe
Hrithika Ravishankar, Mantra Burugu, 11th Grade
Farmington High School, Farmington, CT

Girl Scouts Featured Submission

TeamKids4Nature
Abigail Esterheld, 4th Grade
Girl Scout Troop 60421 and North Haven Public Schools, North Haven, CT

Tallan Featured Submission

Simple Thought
Jake Simoes, 11th Grade
W.F. Kaynor Technical School – Waterbury, CT

AT&T Featured Submission

Study With Me
Jennifer Yang, 12th Grade
North Haven High School, North Haven, CT

Infosys Featured Submission

Best Technical Design: Squad
Christian Stiker
Stamford, CT

Most Innovative: Vivo
Suchita Srinivasan, 7th Grade
Dodd Middle School, Cheshire, CT