SproutCheck wins Rep. Shri Thanedar’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Michigan’s 13th District
Rep. Shri Thanedar has named Umme Sial of Taylor High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Michigan’s 13th District. Their app SproutCheck identifies the species of plants present in user-uploaded images and shares important information about the plants with them.
When asked what inspired the creation of SproutCheck, Umme Sial said, “I love being in nature and discovering new things. Whenever I would go on walks and discover new plants, I would always want to know what type of plant I was looking at. I created this app so people like me can learn more about nature and discover more things each new day.”
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.