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Two Santa Barbara High Students Win Congressional App Challenge

Christian Sanchez and Antonio Ayala’s One Connected makes finding and joining school clubs a cinch.

Two Santa Barbara High Students Win Congressional App Challenge

A pair of students from Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) recently created an award-winning, local solution to a nationwide problem: the shortage of student engagement in school clubs.

Christian Sanchez, a senior, and Antonio Ayala, a sophomore — primed with knowledge gleaned from the school’s Computer Science Academy — developed a web app last year to increase student connection at SBHS using an anti-cyberbullying approach.

As a result, the students won the 2022 Congressional App Challenge, and were honored by Congressmember Salud Carbajal last month. In addition, the students got to meet with Carbajal — whom they referred to as a “cool guy” — to have a conversation about the app’s potential.

One Connected creators Christian Sanchez and Antonio Ayala were honored by Congressmember Salud Carbajal last month after winning won the 2022 Congressional App Challenge. | Credit: Courtesy SBUSD