JourneyKeep wins Rep. Emily Randall’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Washington 6th District
Rep. Emily Randall has named Garner Hall of Bainbridge High School and Andrew Zhang of Portola High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Washington’s 6th District. Their app JourneyKeep helps users build consistency, mindfulness, and intentional habits.
When asked what inspired the creation of JourneyKeep, Garner Hall and Andrew Zhang said, “We were inspired to create JourneyKeep after seeing how easily social media can consume attention and reduce focus on personal growth. As part of Brain Nourishment—a digital wellness brand with over 3 million followers—we saw firsthand how many people wanted to improve their mental health but struggled to stay consistent.
Through posting daily content, we’ve formed a tight-knit community with our followers and often received lots of feedback from the audience on what they believe society needs. Viewers said that we were effective calling out the issue, but it was only so effective because it relied on using social media. JourneyKeep serves as a way to further our mission of offline interaction without relying on these platforms, reaching thousands everyday as a result. To be the most effective at reducing screen time, JourneyKeep works offline, does not require an account, has no addictive retention hooks, and works solely in the interest of the person behind the screen.”
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.