Lost It? Loc8 It! wins Rep. Ted Lieu’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 36th District
Rep. Lieu has named Sarah Varghese, an eighth grader at Ridgecrest Intermediate School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 36th District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Lost It? Loc8 It!, the student said, “My close friend’s grandfather was recently affected with blindness. Every time we visited them, it was heartbreaking to see him struggling. I noticed that he usually had trouble finding misplaced items and when I researched more about this problem, I found out he was not alone. I read several articles written by visually impaired authors that stated that one of their most challenging problems was finding lost things. This inspired me to make something to help the blind population find their belongings. Looking for ways to help, I came across a classmate who has hearing difficulties, and because of this, he can’t hear the lessons as well. So, he uses a device that the teacher wears to hear the lessons better. I was amazed that products like this exist and I was inspired to make my own.”
This year’s Challenge saw an unprecedented level of participation, with 374 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions, surpassing the previous record of 340. A remarkable 11,334 students from across the United States competed in this year’s Challenge, marking an impressive increase of nearly 1,000 participants compared to the previous record set in 2019. The enthusiasm and creativity these students display is a testament to the growing interest in technology and signal a bright future for American innovation. The surge of ingenuity continued with a whopping 3,645 original applications flooding in, nearly a thousand more than the previous year’s high. This remarkable growth showcases the exceptional talent and innovation within our nation’s youth.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives, where Members of Congress host contests 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. This resounding show of bipartisan support emphasizes the critical importance of STEM education in today’s rapidly evolving world. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and each winning team is invited to showcase their winning app to Congress during our annual #HouseOfCode festival. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from Omidyar Network, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2024, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.