Pet Life wins Rep. Nanette Barragan’s (CA-44) 2020 Congressional App Challenge

When asked what inspired the creation of Pet Life, the student said, “What inspired me to create this app is my grandmother. My grandmother is blind and she relies on her bird for company when her family is not around to visit. Seeing the important role that a pet can play inspired me to create an app that could raise awareness to others about the importance of pets in our lives. I was also inspired to create this app because, during the beginning of the pandemic, pet adoption rates were down. Many pets were stuck at shelters with limited resources and no way for people to adopt them. With this app I hope to increase the number of shelter pets adopted.” 

Over 6,500 students registered for the 2020 Congressional App Challenge. These students created and submitted 3,088 functioning apps, marking the end of an extremely successful Congressional App Challenge amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All told, 308 Members of Congress hosted Congressional App Challenges in their districts across 49 states, Puerto Rico, the Mariana Islands, and Washington, DC.

The CAC is an initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host competitions in their districts for middle school and high school students, encouraging them to learn to code and inspiring them to pursue careers in computer science. The Internet Education Foundation provides the CAC with supplemental support. In the six years of the Congressional App Challenge, thousands of functional apps have been created by over 30,000 students, and participant demographics surpass all industry diversity metrics.