On January 9th, a team of four Granada High School (GHS) students won the 15th District Congressional App Challenge sponsored by Congressman Eric Swalwell. The team said they would be “coding like crazy” this weekend and next will create a video to continue on to the national competition.

The students from the winning team are Sam DeCosta, Meenakshi (Mannu) Singhal, Malvika Singhal, and Shannon Yan. Their application addresses stress in high school students. Two additional Livermore students also participated in the competition. A local organization, knodemy, a mentor based computer coding academy located within iGate sponsored the event.

“We’re trying to create an app that can help people deal with negative emotions. When you are angry, sad, anxious, lonely or depressed you can go into the app, choose how you feel and receive positive messages to deal with that specific emotion in a productive way. In high school many students are stressed-out and don’t have good outlets to express their emotions. For students that don’t feel comfortable being public with their emotions this app would provide another way to cope,” says Meenakshi Singhal, one of the winning team members.

ABOUT LIVERMORE VALLEY JOINT UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District serves more than 12,600 students in transitional kindergarten through the 12th grade in eight elementary schools, two K-8 schools – including one school with the International Baccalaureate program, three middle schools, two comprehensive high schools,  and  two  alternative  schools.  Our  teachers  offer  inspiring programs that prepare students to contribute and thrive in their community. For more information about the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District please visit  www.livermoreschools.com.

ABOUT THE CONGRESSIONAL APP CHALLENGE

The Congressional App Challenge is a competition aimed at encouraging U.S. high  school students to learn how to code by creating their own applications. The Challenge is intended to highlight the value of computer science and  STEM  education  (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). By encouraging and recognizing our  nation’s  young  programming talent, Congress hopes to shine a light on the growing importance of these skills.