MentalMagic wins Rep. Tim Moore’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in North Carolina’s 14th District
Rep. Tim Moore has named Armaan Sapra of Ballantyne Ridge High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in North Carolina’s 14th District. Their app MentalMagic is a mental health tracking and response app designed to help the people of America to benefit their mental awareness and give them ideas and feedback on how they can make a difference.
When asked what inspired the creation of MentalMagic, Armaan Sapra said, “I was inspired to create this app because of reasons pertaining to me. I have had friends and colleagues who have discussed their mental health with me and did not have someone else they trusted to talk to, and although I wasn’t able to help at times, I felt sorrowful that they had to deal with all of this. Sadly, people still denied their state as a person with mental illnesses since they did not have sufficient tools to reliably track and notate their condition. As per my discussions with those suffering from mild trauma and mental health lows, it is hard to initially diagnose symptoms without proper care, and often at times a lot of people don’t have the resources or are denied the resources to discuss their mental state of mind. Some of these people don’t like communicating with people as well, so it makes complete sense that in order to give them the help they need, they need something as conversational but not as emotional as humans, which MentalMagic thrives at by making use of AI models and sentiment analyses. MentalMagic aims to bridge the gap between those same people who were denied and pushed down for access to mental health material, and to give basic tracking, response, and communication therapy to those who need 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.