U.S. Representative Juan Ciscomani announced on Mar. 9 the winner of Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District 2025 Congressional App Challenge, naming Joshua Valdez from Cienega High School as this year’s recipient.
The announcement highlights the importance of encouraging young people to develop technological skills and engage with issues relevant to their communities. The challenge aims to foster innovation among students and provide them with opportunities to showcase their talents in computer science.
Valdez’s app, titled ‘ServeArizona,’ is designed to connect volunteers with organizations and allows school clubs to track member volunteer hours in a verifiable way. According to Ciscomani, “I am pleased to announce the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge – Joshua Valdez, a student from Cienega High School. Joshua’s creation of the app titled ‘ServiceArizona’ shows exemplary technological skill and a desire to promote volunteer service in our district.” He added, “I am proud of Joshua’s work and look forward to the opportunity to further celebrate his accomplishment during this year’s Congressional App Challenge Ceremony in Washington, D.C. Congratulations, Joshua!”
This year saw strong participation from students across Arizona’s Sixth District, with submissions covering topics such as immigration, artificial intelligence, sports, emergency response, volunteerism, and career planning. Since its inception in 2015, more than 85,000 students nationwide have participated in the Congressional App Challenge. In this cycle alone, 394 Members of the House of Representatives took part and 13,830 students submitted apps they created.
Winners from each participating district will be invited to attend the #HouseOfCode reception scheduled for April 2026 in Washington D.C., where their achievements will be recognized at a national level.
Ciscomani has served as U.S. Representative for Arizona’s Sixth District since replacing Ann Kirkpatrick in 2023 according to Ballotpedia. He won election victories over Kirsten Engel in both 2022 and 2024 as reported by The New York Timesand The New York Times. Born in Hermosillo, Mexico in 1982 and now living in Tucson according to his congressional biography, Ciscomani graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2005.
