Students Win Congressional App Challenge With Library App

Four high school juniors just proved that the best tech solutions come from understanding everyday problems. Their library management app took first place at Congressman Bobby Scott's Congressional App Challenge, earning recognition from local and national leaders.

The winning team came from the Maritime Engineering and Environmental Studies Academy, a brand new collaborative program between Old Dominion University and Newport News Public Schools that opened just last fall. Malachai Finch, Amari Gatling, Amialyn Lipsey, and Dameon Saunders designed the Library Logistics App to make checking out books faster and easier for both students and teachers.

The idea started as a school project focused on getting students more interested in reading. Instead of building something theoretical, the team tackled a real need they saw every day: the clunky process of managing library materials.

Congressman Scott hosted the awards ceremony on February 7 at the Brooks Crossing Innovation and Opportunity Center, alongside Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones and School Board Chair Dr. Terri Best. Menchville High School senior Owen Balingit also earned third place for VisiTracker, a facial recognition app that helps students who forget their IDs.

The Ripple Effect

What makes this story shine beyond typical student competitions is how these teenagers applied advanced logistics concepts to improve their own community. MEESA program administrator Tirzah Jaynes noted that her students took global supply chain principles and put them to work right in their school building.

The Congressional App Challenge isn't a small local contest. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives host these district wide competitions specifically to inspire the next generation of computer scientists and coders. Thousands of middle and high school students across the country submit apps each year.

The MEESA students brought together kids from four different high schools: Menchville, An Achievable Dream, Heritage, and Warwick. Working across campuses, they collaborated to design something practical that could benefit students at multiple schools throughout Newport News.

Their win demonstrates how hands on learning programs can produce real world results when students have the freedom to identify problems and build solutions themselves.

These teenagers didn't just write code for a grade or check off an assignment. They saw classmates struggling with an outdated system and built technology to fix it, showing that innovation often starts with simply paying attention to the friction points in everyday life.