NewsDash wins Rep. Delia C. Ramirez’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Illinois’ Third District
Rep. Delia C. Ramirez has named Joseph Nowak, Tanmay Garg, Sanjith Yelavarthy, and Zachary Buchar of Lane Tech College Prep, Northside College Prep, and Waubonsie Valley High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Illinois’s Third District. Their app NewsDash is an AI assistant for understanding and accessing news about the economy, politics, environment, and more.
When asked what inspired the creation of NewsDash, the students said, “We were inspired by the lack of people actually reading the news in our current society. As it stands, the average American is not staying informed, and these people are then going out and voting for policies that they are not educated on. They are easily misinformed, especially in the age of social media. We found it important for everyone to stay updated with what is going on in the news so that they could make educated decisions when going out to vote for policies or people. We hope that through this app we can inform a larger audience in order to make Americans informed again. One of the most common reasons why there is strong polarization and misinformation is that people’s beliefs are reinforced by social media. If there were a place where they could ask questions about anything about current events and get verified information from trusted sources, then they could be better citizens.”
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.