LunchAhead wins Rep. Haley Stevens’ 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Michigan’s 11th District
Rep. Haley Stevens has named Aahana Ashok and Natnicha Kusalasi of Novi High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Michigan’s 11th District. Their app LunchAhead is designed to help students and schools make lunch time more efficient, organized, and sustainable.
When asked what inspired the creation of LunchAhead, the students said, “The idea for Lunch Ahead came from our own experiences as students dealing with long cafeteria lines and inconsistent food availability. Last year, I had C lunch, which was the latest one, and my class was located across the school from the cafeteria. By the time I got there, I would have to rush, stand in line for most of the period, and sometimes find that the food I wanted and waited in line for had already run out. It was frustrating, especially knowing that other students faced the same problem. At the same time, schools often overproduce food that ends up being thrown away. We wanted to find a solution that balanced both sides, helping students get the food they want while reducing waste for the school. Our inspiration came from that shared experience and the idea that technology could make the lunch process faster, fairer, and more sustainable for everyone.”
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.