The North Carolina Business Committee for Education’s Ready, Set, App! challenge is a mobile app development competition for high school students sponsored by Lenovo™. Student groups are asked to develop a mobile app using a mobile app development platform (e.g., MIT App Inventor) to solve a problem in their school or community. Ready, Set, App! focuses on three primary pillars:
- Mobile App Development
- Professional and Personal Development
- Interpersonal and Soft Skills Development
What Is Ready, Set, App?
Join Ready, Set, App!
Ready, Set, App! will begin its 7th cycle in Fall 2025 and run throughout the 25–26 school year; all NC high school students are eligible to participate. Over the course of a few months, students will gather in teams of 3 – 5 to come up with a unique idea and turn it into a full-functioning original app. No previous coding experience is necessary as we’ll provide many resources to help along the way, including a dedicated student intern to provide valuable peer mentorship. Students will then pitch their app ideas for the opportunity to present at the final competition held at Lenovo headquarters in the spring. Winners of the final competition get to take home cool prizes in the form of brand-new Lenovo tech! Look out for team registration forms to be available on this page in the fall.
For more questions, please contact NCBCE Program Manager, Ciera Tucker, at ciera.tucker@nc.gov.
Ready, Set, App! has Internship Opportunities!
Ready, Set, App! provides a meaningful work-based learning experience for students not just through competing, but also through our internship program. Ready, Set, App! interns are high school students from across the state who are experienced in and passionate about computer science. They are assigned as mentors to the teams competing in the competition to provide guidance as they develop their apps. Interns are a vital resource in this competition, meeting virtually with teams to help them progress and enabling them to overcome any obstacles on their pathway to success. This help can include sharing tips on time management, providing insight on designs, troubleshooting code, and more. We will need hardworking, dedicated students to fill these spots for our seventh cycle. And we can’t forget to mention, this is a paid internship! So, if you’re looking to build your leadership skills while reinforcing your own skills in coding and design, keep an eye out for applications to open this fall.
What To Expect
RSA is designed in three phases:
- Phase 1: Registration
- Phase 2: Develop + Demo + Pitch Group Reflection
- Phase 3: Finalist Round
Phase 1: Registration
Registration requires the contact information for both the advisor and the student participants. An optional spot to write a short description of what app you plan to build and what need it is fulfilling in your school or community is available. This information gives your intern an idea of what your goals are, but if you don't have an idea yet, don't worry! Our interns can give you tips on brainstorming and design planning!
Phase 2: Develop + Demo + Pitch Group Reflection
Your team will develop a mobile app using a mobile app development platform (e.g., MIT App Inventor) to solve a problem in your school or community.
What to Submit:
- App Pitch + Demo (Video)
- Group Reflection (Video)
- Completed Project Workbook Activities
- Upload of your APK file
- Completed information in all required fields of the submission form on Devpost
Teams will submit a two-part video that includes the app pitch with demo, and a group reflection. The video should be no longer than 6 minutes.
To view last year’s submissions, visit readysetapp.devpost.com.
All teams in phase 2 will be assigned a Ready, Set, App! Student Intern. RSA interns act as mentors to the student groups, tracking their progress and offering assistance throughout the app development process. These interns are NC high school students with experience in coding, design, app-building, and some have been in this competition before as participants. So, they're able to provide a great amount of insight and value and should be utilized.
Student groups are required to coordinate times with their assigned intern to conduct virtual check-ins. These bi-weekly check-ins last about 15 - 30 minutes. Multiple missed check-ins can be cause for dismissal from the competition. Teams will also be given a project workbook. The project workbook details the requirements of the competition, provides deadlines, and contains activities meant to aid in the app development process. The workbook will be utilized during check-ins with their designated intern.
Phase 3: Finalist Round
After the Phase 2 submission deadline, there will be a voting period to determine the finalists who will present live at the Final Pitch Competition at Lenovo headquarters in Morrisville, NC.
The finalists will be required to present their mobile app in front of a live audience and a panel of judges who will select the top 3 winners that get to take home awesome prizes courtesy of Lenovo™. More details to come.
News
"North Carolina High School Innovators Excel in Governor's 'Ready, Set, App!' Tech Competition"
– hoodline.com • 5/31/2025
"High School Teams from Across North Carolina Amaze in Ready, Set, App! Competition"
– rcnamericancsc.blogspot.com • 5/30/2025
"High School Teams from Across North Carolina Amaze in Ready, Set, App! Competition"
– world.einnews.com • 5/30/2025
"High School Teams from Across North Carolina Excel in Ready, Set, App! Competition"
– governor.nc.gov • 6/3/2024
"NC high school students compete in app building contest at Lenovo headquarters"
– cbs17.com • 4/26/2024
Thank you to our sponsor:
This competition is also in partnership with:
