History Xplore wins Rep. Ken Calvert’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 41st District
Rep. Ken Calvert has named Tristan Kelly and Arjun Pradeep of Eleanor Roosevelt High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in California’s 41st District. Their app History Xplore teaches users history by using an interactive map and timeline.
When asked what inspired the creation of History Xplore, the students said, “We primarily developed it after noticing that today, a lot of students find history to be boring or hard to learn, viewing it as nothing more than names, dates, and people. Our app aims to help ignite or reignite the love of learning history among students or to assist those who may need help in the subject. Specifically, I had a few friends (sophomores) who were struggling in AP European History, and they told me that, as visual learners, it would help if there were an easier way to learn their course content outside of what their teacher taught them.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.