Sokrat wins Rep. Steny Hoyer’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Maryland’s Fifth District
Rep. Steny Hoyer has named Sean Cardenas, David Alozie, and Isaac Yoo of Eleanor Roosevelt High School as the winners of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Maryland’s Fifth District. Their app Sokrat provides resources such as YouTube links, courses, and papers for topics that users are interested in studying or learning more about, with just a simple search.
When asked what inspired the creation of Sokrat, the students said, “We were inspired to create this app because sometimes (especially when bored or curious or anything—maybe just a flash of inspiration) you want to learn new things, but you don’t have the resources to really keep that flame burning and potentially gain a new hobby, skill, or even livelihood. On many occasions in life, I have wanted an all-in-one tool to get the resources I need to develop skills or just learn things that I spontaneously became interested in.”
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.