PawPass wins Rep. Eric Burlison’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Missouri’s Seventh District
Rep. Eric Burlison has named Thuc Chi Do and Ronin Gambill of Kickapoo High as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Missouri’s Seventh District. Their app PawPass is a web-based application that allows users to quickly and efficiently store information about their pets.
When asked what inspired the creation of PawPass, the students said, “We had trouble initially coming up with an app idea, so we talked to some people in our community. Eventually, we talked to someone who volunteered at the local pet shelter. They told us that they would love a system in which they could scan a QR code next to a pet’s container that would give them all the information about the pet. So, we adapted this idea and improved on it so that both shelters and individuals could find use out of it.”
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.