Hola Dental wins Rep. Tony Gonzales’s 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 23rd District
Rep. Gonzales has named Samuel Zhao, a 12th grader at Louis D. Brandeis High School, as the winner of the 2023 Congressional App Challenge in Texas’s 23rd District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Hola Dental, the student said, “I was inspired to make this app to help reduce the impact of language barriers on oral health disparities.
I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, the 7th most populous city in the US. Hispanic people make up over 60% of the population, and Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language at home after English. My older sister, a dental student at UT Health San Antonio, is learning dental Spanish to communicate better with her patients, many of whom can only speak Spanish. According to her, being able to communicate with Spanish-speaking patients is an essential skill for dental professionals, especially in San Antonio.One of the biggest problems facing dentistry today is the large gap in oral health knowledge and access to care for Hispanic people. A major reason for this disparity is the language barrier caused by the significant shortage of dentists who can speak Spanish. For many, going to the dentist is an uncomfortable and intimidating experience in and of itself. However, Spanish speakers face the additional challenge of not being able to properly communicate their oral health concerns.
The goal of Hola Dental is to help overcome the language barrier between dental professionals and Spanish speakers by facilitating communication in a simple and easy-to-use manner, thereby lowering a barrier to quality oral healthcare.”
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.