Tag: Sharice Davids

Johnson County senior wins Congressional App Challenge with his school workflow workaround

By Tommy Felts / February 21, 2026

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,…

‘Buy, buy, buy while we can’: This KC toy store is stockpiling Christmas gifts now as tariff reality unwraps 

By Tommy Felts / May 29, 2025

Brett Goodwin and Alan Tipton are feeling even more thankful right now for the large, dry basement at The Learning Tree — the independent toy store they own in Prairie Village — amid worries over tariffs on Chinese imports and how they’ll impact prices from toy manufacturers. The best they can do to prepare: stockpile…

Lawmakers redeploy bill to boost veterans as entrepreneurs; targeting easier access to capital, credit

By Tommy Felts / February 18, 2025

Bipartisan legislation to help veteran small business owners and entrepreneurs overcome barriers on the home front is back in Congress, with backing from two area lawmakers who say the time is now to get resources to those who served. U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, introduced the Successful Entrepreneurship for Reservists and Veterans (SERV) Act alongside…

Kansas student’s mobility tech for visually impaired users wins Congressional App Challenge

By Tommy Felts / January 25, 2025

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…

Kansas secures $8.2M for digital equity plans; part of Biden’s ‘Internet for all’ initiative

By Tommy Felts / December 12, 2024

New grant funding is expected to boost efforts to empower Kansans and Sunflower State communities with the digital tools and skills necessary to meaningfully benefit from high-speed Internet service. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on Wednesday announced funding pathways for Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, allowing the…

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