That means Jeffrey Noah, a junior, has the chance to travel to Washington, D.C., in April to show off his award-winning work in the U.S. Capitol and connect with peer coders.
His app, Canari, was selected as the winner in Washington's 4th Congressional District by U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, who called it an "excellent example of how our region's high schoolers can utilize technology to solve problems in different industries."
It uses a database to store user reports and displays the most relevant and severe threats to farmers depending on their location on a heat map.
Noah says the inspiration for "Canari: Agriculture Insights for Everyone" came from a real-world problem.
"My mom works in agriculture and last spring she told me that her company could really use a platform for internal reports over dinner," he said in a video about the app. "I decided to give it a go and started out creating a data platform for businesses that would allow them to report issues internally and manage their crops. This idea evolved into an open-source platform eventually."
Noah received guidance and support from Kennewick computer science teacher Joshua Eerkes, who urged him to submit his work. He says that motivated him to cram hours of work into the project in the days leading up to the submission deadline.
The app, he says, is "built for anybody involved in agriculture, and is designed to be a free resource for hobbyist gardeners all the way up to industrial farmers, because every crop saved is a step towards reducing food poverty."
In 2023, food insecurity affected about 18 million homes, or 13.5 percent of U.S. households. The financial impact of pests and diseases on U.S. crops is also vast: Invasive pests alone account for $20 billion in losses each year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Washington's agriculture industry totals $14 billion in production each year, with apples leading 2023 production at $2 billion. The Tri-Cities world-renowned wine industry brings in about $2.6 billion in annual revenue and supports 7,600 jobs.
Since 2015, the Congressional App Challenge has sought to foster computer science and STEM education through presentation and competition. Additional prizes are also available.
More than 12,600 students from across the nation participated this year and submitted a total 2,881 original applications, showcasing their creativity and passion for technology.
Past Central Washington Congressional App Winners include Tri-Tech Skills Center students Jacob Bertelsen and Cooper Carey in 2023 for their game "Human.exe," as well as Richland High School student Advaitha Motkuri in 2022 for her intoxication detector "People's Pupil."
Noah says he hopes to publish his work for free on the Apple App Store within the next few months and plans to add new features and security measures before it goes live.
©2025 Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.