Garden Grove High School Students Showcase Winning App in D.C.

• Thursday, April 20, 2023

Three Garden Grove High School students traveled to Washington D.C. this week to showcase an app they developed at the #HouseofCode Festival, the most prestigious STEM event for student coders in the nation. Students Jessica Nguyen, Henry Vu and Jasmine Chau received this exciting opportunity after developing an app called MnewNote to help students develop better study skills, which won the 2022 Congressional App Challenge in Congressman Lou Correa’s 46^th district.    

The winning team are juniors at Garden Grove High School and created the app in Mr. Eric Henninger’s AP Computer Science Principles class. When asked what inspired the creation of MnewNote, the students said, ”We noticed, through our peers and ourselves, that many people struggle with studying, whether it be finding motivation, being able to focus, or just finding the right study method. There are many students out there who spend hours studying but do not get the results they are looking for because they are studying inefficiently.”  The app combines scientifically-proven study methods including a Pomodoro timer for frequent breaks to reduce mental burnout and a motivational reward system of stars that are given as a currency for students to purchase collectibles.

“We are so proud of our students for designing solutions to real challenges they face on a daily basis,” said Board of Education Trustee Lan Nguyen. “Being recognized as among the nation’s best student coders is quite an outstanding accomplishment.”

In Washington D.C, students had the opportunity to demonstrate their app to Congressman Lou Correa, other members of Congress, and the public. At the #HouseofCode Festival, students saw demos from other app winners and heard congressional keynotes from members of Congress about the importance of STEM. They were also treated to a tour of the capitol by Congressman Correa and built in some time to visit the nation’s monuments.

More than 9,000 students from across the nation participated in this year’s congressional app challenge with most of the 335 Members of Congress receiving 20 submissions in the challenge.

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