Three Garden Grove High School students will get to showcase an app they developed, a tool to help students study efficiently, to Congress next month.

Jessica Nguyen, Henry Vu and Jasmine Chau, all juniors, developed the MnewNote app which combines study techniques with a timer as a way to balance study time with breaks to maximize productivity and reduce mental burnout. They’ll present it to Congress at the annual #HouseOfCode festival in April.

The app, the students said, has eight different features, including mnemonic generators and a game to stimulate focus and aid in retention.

They wanted to create a study app because they saw students in their school, particularly peers in their grade, struggling with focus, Chau said.

“The thing that deters people from studying is that it’s tedious. People don’t know where to start,” said Nguyen. “This app provides a whole area for people to get motivation and figure out where to start.”

Since students have to juggle different materials for various classes, Vu said, the app can help them manage study resources and be efficient.

The MnewNote app is not publicly available yet. Chau said they will consider publishing it in the future.

But it did recently win the 2022 Congressional App Challenge in Rep. Lou Correa’s 46th district. Chau said the win was a shock and unexpected; Vu and Nguyen said they are “ecstatic.”

“We are really excited to show some of the features we have on our app, to hopefully inspire Congress to invest more in these kinds of competitions to motivate students to pursue computer science,” Vu said. “It’s a very exciting opportunity for us.”

The three students are in an AP computer science principles class, offered for the first time at Garden Grove High. To develop the app, the students had to learn to code and create graphics. And they also learned how to work together.

“They each embody the next generation of STEM leadership — and I’m so proud of each of them. There is no limit to what they will accomplish,” Correa, D-Anaheim, said.

The annual Congressional App Challenge is held in participating districts for middle and high school students. The goal is to encourage students to learn to code and pursue careers in computer science.

The next round of competitions will launch in June, and eligible students can pre-register online.

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