Sunday, April 27, 2025
Paul Fleck, a senior at Baldwin High School, has been named winner of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge for the Fourth District by former Congressman Anthony D’ Esposito, designing an app to help Operation SPLASH volunteers improve their environmental cleanup efforts.
The contest encourages middle and high school students across the nation to learn to code and create innovative apps that solve real-world problems.
Fleck, a long-time member of Freeport’s Operation SPLASH, which stands for Stop Polluting, Littering and Save Harbors, recognized a recurring problem during cleanup campaigns. He explained that the group’s captains lacked real-time information on which locations had been recently cleaned, which often led to wasted time and resources.
“I noticed a recurring inefficiency during cleanup trips — captains lacked up-to-date information on which locations were recently cleaned, leading to wasted time,” Fleck told the Herald.
To solve this issue, Fleck developed SPLASH Tracker, a mobile app that provides live updates on the debris status of cleanup locations. The app’s user interface is simple and easy to navigate, allowing SPLASH captains to quickly assess which areas need attention. Fleck integrated Google Maps into the app, where cleanup locations are shown with color-coded transparent shapes, making it easy for users to identify high-priority areas.
The app has already proven useful for volunteers, helping them make more informed decisions about which sites to tackle. By providing real-time data, SPLASH Tracker allows captains to save on travel expenses, while reducing pollution and increasing the amount of garbage that is collected.
“Having this knowledge allows the volunteers to make a well-informed decision about where to clean up, resulting in saved gas, less pollution, and ultimately more garbage cleaned up per trip,” Fleck explained.
In developing the app, Fleck needed to learn how to navigate Android Studio, the integrated development environment he used to build the app, and struggled with implementing the Google Maps SDK. Syncing data across devices posed an obstacle as well, Fleck said.
“Getting used to Android Studio ... was a challenge because it just requires experience,” Fleck noted. “There are so many resources online, like YouTube and StackExchange, where I was always able to find clarification.”
Despite these hurdles, Fleck’s determination paid off, and SPLASH Tracker is now being used to streamline cleanup efforts for Operation SPLASH. The recognition has further fueled his passion for creating technology with environmental benefits.
“I’m happy other people found my app to be useful and saw its ability to further environmental sustainability,” Fleck said. “This only increases my passion to create technological innovations that help preserve our natural environment.”
As the winner, Fleck was invited to showcase his app during the House of Code festival.
