U.S. Congressman Gray returns to Merced High to visit the next generation of innovators

Congressman Adam Gray made a special visit to a Merced High AP computer science class on Wednesday. The students were able to demonstrate some of the projects they’ve been working on for the past couple months for the Congressional App Challenge, in which students design and develop apps that address social issues and needs within their communities. 

 

Gray also took time to answer questions from the students and explain what it’s like working in Congress and his background of growing up in Merced. 

 

“Having Representative Gray visit sends a strong message that what the students are doing matters beyond the classroom walls,” said MHS computer science teacher Luke Marvulli. “It connects their coding work to civic engagement and shows them that people in positions of influence actually notice student work. For many kids who may not see themselves as ‘tech people,’ this gives them the opportunity to see the kind of recognition  that can be really affirming.”

 

Some of the groups were able to demonstrate their apps they created and developed for the competition. Gray was able to see an app dedicated to skin care and helping teens find possible products to help with a variety of conditions. There was another app that helped people find community service opportunities in their area. 

 

“It's incredible that our teacher managed to make that connection and pull him in so we could get one-on-one feedback,” said senior Samara Sanchez-Soto. “Being able to present our apps and get a little bit more insight on his profession and his background was really interesting.”

 

Gray says he enjoys going into schools and visiting with students. This was a special opportunity for him since he spent his first two years of high school at MHS before the opening of Golden Valley High School in 1994. 

 

“One of my favorite political quotes is Bill Clinton when he said, ‘There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what's right with America,’" Gray said. “And whenever you come to do something like this, spend time with young people, that's what's right with America? Just great young people from all over the place with great ideas, optimism for the future. If you're feeling negative, go to a high school and talk to some young people because I think there's a lot to feel really good about.”

 

Marvulli’s class submitted 12 projects for the Congressional App Challenge, which Gray said was the most of any class in his congressional district. The winning app from each district is eligible to be displayed in the U.S. Capital and the students are invited to the "House Of Code” event in Washington D.C. 

 

Marvulli said heI presented this challenge to his students as a chance to apply their knowledge to create something meaningful to help our community. “It was one of the more rewarding things I've done as a teacher,” Marvulli said. “Watching students move from ‘I don't know if I can do this’ to actually creating a meaningful app that was designed with their passion was very powerful. Some students who are usually quiet or average performers really stepped up when the project felt real and they had an audience and passion for the subject.”

 

Merced junior Rishabh Saha enjoyed his group project which was developing a skin care app for kids their age. 

 

“We learned a lot about all these different tools that are available to us and all the different ways we can develop an app, and also what not to do when developing an app, and so we gained a lot of experience that way,” Saha said. “As for how we came up with this idea, we were thinking about how there's a lot of healthcare apps these days, but they address problems that don't really apply to people in our age demographic. And when we were thinking about that more, we thought that skincare was a major one, and also something that's hard to get medical care for, since to see a dermatologist, you really need a pretty bad situation. So we were trying to help democratize that process with our app.”

 

Gray said he definitely was impressed with some of the ideas. “Incredibly impressive,” he said. “I thought the very first one we saw, skincare. I mean, what a great business idea in a sense. You saw the Amazon links and everything, but also something that really contributes to helping people in a meaningful way. Then of course going into some of the climate change focus and trying to figure out how can I govern and make an impact by using this app, or how can I volunteer my time and pull together local work. I mean, all really great ideas that make you feel good.”

 

Shawn Jansen is the MUHSD Program Manager Digital Media. He can be reached at Sjansen@muhsd.org.