Congressional App Challenge
Johnson County senior wins Congressional App Challenge with his school workflow workaround
Drake Semchyshyn turned a personal pain point at school into an award-winning app. The Blue Valley West senior created Catalyst — designed to improve students’ academic experience within Canvas, a widely used learning management system — winning the 2025 Congressional App Challenge for Kansas’ Third District. “The Canvas student application basically manages grades, assignments, submissions,…
Kansas student’s mobility tech for visually impaired users wins Congressional App Challenge
An Overland Park eighth grader’s app idea — using object detection and text-to-speech technology to help visually impaired individuals navigate their surroundings — earned him a visit to the principal’s office, then an opportunity to showcase his innovation in Washington, D.C. “I actually came across a video online, and it was about this blind woman…


