Somerset Times

(February 4, 2025) BERNARDSVILLE, NJ – Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. hosted an event to honor the winners of the 2024 Congressional App Challenge.

“It was a privilege to host this event to honor students who truly excelled in the 2024 challenge,” said Congressman Kean. “This challenge is the most prestigious in computer science for students and stands as the largest competition of its kind in the country. Each student identified a problem or need in their community and approached it with passion and enthusiasm. I am truly amazed by their creativity and skills. The future is bright for each one of these students.”

Jonah Park and Arnav Jain received top honors for their app, Root, which educates children about environmental science and promotes change. A key feature of Root is its "explore" page that serves as a bulletin board for user-hosted environmental events. The app is showcased on the Congressional App Challenge website, and Jonah and Arnav will represent the Seventh Congressional District at the National House of Code in Washington, where their app will be displayed at the U.S. Capitol Building.

“We created Root to give students strong foundational knowledge on environmental science so that they can develop their own healthy perspective on the topic,” said Arnav Jain.

“Root isn’t just for learning about the climate. It’s about providing resources to make change happen,” said Jonah Park.

Five other apps received Honorable Mentions: Jonathan Chang from Berkeley Heights; Clara Risso, Rebecca Lubeck, and Kayla Peng from Warren; Shiven Das from Bridgewater; Shrenik Rakshit from Annandale; and Dheirya Tyagi from Bernardsville.

The submissions were judged by Vincent Panico, a former computer science professor now working in enterprise technology sales and serving as Deputy Mayor of Readington, alongside Samantha Billig, a Business Education Teacher at Hunterdon Central named Hunterdon County Teacher of the Year in 2016.