50th Cong. Dist. teens code future, one app at a time

Ah, folks, let me tell you about a little event that just happened in California’s 50th Congressional District.

Congressman Scott Peters announced the winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge! Now, if you’re not familiar, this is like “American Idol” for coding nerds. Instead of hitting the high notes, these kids are debugging lines of code like they’re cracking the Enigma machine.

So, apparently, a record-breaking 30 apps were submitted. Thirty. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were a kid in middle school today, my app would’ve been something revolutionary like, “Find My Homework” or “Nap Time Scheduler.” But no, these kids are solving problems like they’re running a tech startup in Silicon Valley.

Take the winners, Matthew and Luke—sounds like a couple of apostles, right? Their app, “CheckPoint Student,” fixes this devastating problem where kids had to walk across campus to sign in on a clipboard. The horror! I mean, back in my day, walking across campus was the workout. But these kids are saving seconds like they’re on a mission from Bezos himself. NFC scanning? Privacy protection? It’s basically a CIA operation in a high school library.

Second place went to Kaelyn with “ePill,” an app that uses deep learning to make sure you don’t accidentally take the wrong meds. That’s right, folks—middle schoolers are out here solving the problems of our grandparents. She’s practically running Big Pharma out of business, one app at a time.

Then there’s Ryan, who came in third with “PaveScope.” This kid is using drones to survey roads without disrupting traffic. Meanwhile, the city’s road crews are out here with clipboards, wondering why they’re suddenly irrelevant. Imagine a teenager coding something that’ll probably replace half of CalTrans by 2030.

Fourth place? Cindy and Stephanie created “TosNOW.” It’s a Chrome extension that simplifies Terms of Service documents. Let’s be honest, no one reads those things anyway, but now we don’t have an excuse. You’re just trying to watch a cat video, and BAM—here comes an AI lawyer explaining how your data is being sold to a company you’ve never heard of.

And fifth place—because apparently, we’ve all been slacking—went to Mihir with “FoodLink.” This app matches people with excess food to food banks in need. AI-powered logistics for feeding the hungry! I mean, you’ve got tech billionaires trying to solve world hunger with tweets, and here’s Mihir getting it done with an app he probably coded after algebra class.

But don’t worry—these kids aren’t just coding in the dark. They’ve got judges, experts who grade them on purpose, creativity, and technical design. It’s like a science fair, but instead of a baking soda volcano, you’ve got a drone doing traffic surveys.

The winners even get their app displayed in the Capitol and are invited to the #HouseOfCode reception in D.C. That’s right—Congress finally found something useful to do with its time! Maybe next year, one of these kids can code an app to fix gridlock on the House floor.

So here’s to the future, folks. The next generation isn’t just coming up with ideas—they’re shipping them. And if you’re feeling bad about what you’ve accomplished today, just remember: at least you didn’t lose to a 14-year-old who just revolutionized infrastructure.

The winners of this year’s Congressional App Challenge for CA-50 are:

• First Place: CheckPoint Student, by Matthew Dubois and Luke Graham, La Jolla Country Day School
• Second Place: ePill, by Kaelyn Liu, Canyon Crest Academy
• Third Place: PaveScope, by Ryan Rezaei, Canyon Crest Academy
• Fourth Place: TosNOW, by Cindy Li and Stephanie Choi, Canyon Crest Academy
• Fifth Place: FoodLink, by Mihir Bapat, Del Norte High School