Calculation Salvation wins Rep. Chellie Pingree’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Maine’s First District.
Rep. Chellie Pingree has named Isaiah Whitehead of Gorham High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Maine’s First District. Their app, Calculation Salvation, is a tool that enables the user to practice arithmetic in a way that is both simple and intuitive, as well as practical and multifunctional.
When asked what inspired the creation of Calculation Salvation, Isaiah Whitehead said, “I created Calculation Salvation as a way to exercise the brain in a simple, practical way that is missing from most people’s lives. Many people are open to the idea of using arithmetic to boost their overall cognitive function, but in practice, this is rarer than it should be. This is because other solutions lack the ease of use that I prioritized in my app. Despite adding 6 expandable distinct game modes to play, I focused on making sure the user experience was straightforward and inviting to actually use.”
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.