An app created by Brighton High School senior Cayla Marzban won third-place in U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett’s 7th District 2025 Congressional App Competition.
The app — Ves — helps users monitor their lifestyle — diet, sleep, work schedule, etc. — to avoid burnout and lead a more healthy life.
The Congressional App Challenge (CAC), the most prestigious prize in student computer science, is a national competition encouraging the participation of middle and high school student participation in computer science and coding.
Officially launched by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2015, the growth of competition has since inspired over 40,000 students across all 50 states to participate in the Congressional App Challenge.
Each participating member of the House of Representatives accepts submissions from their congressional district. Barrett represents Michigan’s 7th congressional district, which includes all of Livingston, Ingham, Clinton, and Shiawassee counties, most of Eaton County, and parts of Oakland and Genesee Counties.
First place in the 7th District went to AgriVerse, a mobile app to help farmers and recreational gardeners raise crops and other plants by using artificial intelligence and a device’s camera to identify plan diseases or insects, and providing information for addressing problems. It was created by Okemos High School students Sai Pranav Tejas Valisetty and Rithik Parthasarathy who teamed up with Brian Lee and Vishwas Tattala from outside the district.
Second place went to FairMaps: Geometry of Democracy, created by Ishaan Mahapatra from Haslett High School. The app teaches users about legislative redistricting and allows them to try their hand at drawing hypothetical district maps.
