Habit Hobbit wins Rep. Melanie Stansbury’s 2024 Congressional App Challenge in New Mexico’s First District
Rep. Melanie Stansbury has named Laszlo Zolyomi of Davidson Academy Online and Sean Choi of Stanford Online High School as the winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge in New Mexico’s First District.
When asked what inspired the creation of Habit Hobbit, the students said, “As high school students, we spend a lot of our time working on our laptops. Both of us noticed that while we were on our laptops working or participating in classes, we forgot to exercise the healthy habits we would have when off our devices. For instance, hours spent working at a time often led to bad posture, eye strain, dehydration, and gradually degrading mental health. All of these could be averted through periodic breaks—occasional ‘posture checks’ to ensure we weren’t hunched over our laptops, the 20-20-20 rule (20 seconds spent staring at an object 20 feet away every 20 minutes), water breaks every hour or two, and even short ‘screen breaks’ to spend time moving or going outside. The issue was when absorbed in one’s work, school, or digital entertainment, it was hard to remember to do these things frequently enough. Having a set of repeating reminders to encourage us to do these things would go a long way toward improving our health in the long term. This led us to the idea of Habit Hobbit: a simple, accessible way to develop healthy ‘screen habits.’ It proves especially useful for online-school students like the two of us, but in an increasingly digital age, Habit Hobbit is a valuable tool for everyone.”
This year’s Congressional App Challenge set new records, with an unprecedented 382 Members of the House of Representatives hosting competitions—surpassing the previous high of 374. An incredible 12,682 students from across the country participated, representing a growth of over 1,000 students compared to 2023. These talented students submitted an astounding 3,881 original applications, showcasing their creativity, passion for technology, and the limitless potential of America’s next generation of innovators. This surge in participation reflects the increasing excitement around STEM and highlights a bright future for American innovation.
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 the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Rise, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2024 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May of 2025, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.