
Congressman Kean hosts Congressional App Challenge winner recognition event
NEW JERSEY – Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) hosted an event Monday night to recognize the top winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge.
“It was a privilege to honor students who truly excelled in this year’s challenge,” Kean said. “This competition is the most prestigious in computer science for students and is the largest of its kind in the country. Each participant identified a problem or need in their community and approached it with passion and creativity. I am amazed by their skills. The future is bright for these students.”
The top honors went to Jonah Park and Arnav Jain, winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge. Their app, Root, focuses on teaching children about environmental science and how change is possible. An important feature of the app is its “explore” page, which serves as a bulletin board for user-hosted environmental events. Root is currently featured on the Congressional App Challenge website, and in April, Jonah and Arnav will represent New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District at the National House of Code, where their app will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol.
“We created Root to provide students with a strong foundational knowledge of environmental science so they can form their own informed perspectives,” Jain said. “The Congressional App Challenge has helped us share our vision more widely, and we’re excited to officially launch Root.”
“Root isn’t just about learning the science of climate change; it’s about providing resources to inspire real change,” Park added. “The most rewarding part of winning the Congressional App Challenge has been realizing that our local elected officials care deeply about the issues that concern us as youth. Without government officials advocating for us, shedding light on these issues would not be possible.”
Five other apps received Honorable Mentions and their developers were also honored at the event. The Honorable Mention winners include: Jonathan Chang of Berkeley Heights; Clara Risso, Rebecca Lubeck, and Kayla Peng of Warren; Shiven Das of Bridgewater; Shrenik Rakshit of Annandale; and Dheirya Tyagi of Bernardsville.
All of this year’s submissions were judged by Vincent Panico and Samantha Billig. Panico, a former computer science professor at Raritan Valley Community College, now leverages his tech background as a sales leader in the enterprise technology industry and as Deputy Mayor of Readington.
Samantha Billig, named Hunterdon County Teacher of the Year in 2016, has taught Business Education at Hunterdon Central in Flemington for 17 years, specializing in Entrepreneurship and Digital Multimedia Design.