{"id":383393,"date":"2026-04-17T01:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/383393\/"},"modified":"2026-04-17T01:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T01:00:08","slug":"browning-high-school-students-to-showcase-mental-health-app-at-national-science-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/383393\/","title":{"rendered":"Browning High School Students to Showcase Mental Health App at National Science Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout the school year, Aiyahna Green, Sophia Guerrero-Gobert and Kalani SunRhodes met during their lunch periods, hunching over their phones. The three Browning High School seniors were building an app that could help provide mental health resources for teenagers.<\/p>\n

The girls represent the Browning High School chapter of Code Girls United, a nonprofit that since 2016 has provided after-school programming to teach girls in Montana technology literacy and business skills. The seniors had set their sights on the Congressional App Challenge, an event that allows middle and high school students to compete for a chance to showcase their skills on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

In January, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke selected the group\u2019s app as winner of the 2025 challenge in Montana\u2019s western district. Next week, the girls will travel to Washington, D.C., to showcase the app at the National Science Fair\u2019s House of Code event, sponsored by an anonymous donor.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took a lot of creativity from everyone and just adding on each other\u2019s ideas,\u201d SunRhodes said. \u201cThat part was pretty easy, and it was honestly fun creating it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Green, a Code Girls member since her freshman year, came up with the idea to create an app that focused on mental health. Last school year, she convinced her then-fellow juniors to join the club, and together they started collaborating on what a mental health app might contain and how to design it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really wanted to focus on mental health because we know that on Native reservations it goes overlooked, and there\u2019s not many resources, or really not any resources, for mental health,\u201d Green said.<\/p>\n

Those living on the Blackfeet Nation have been working to change that in recent years. The first tribally run mental health center in the state opened its doors on the reservation last year<\/a>. School counselors also installed hush pods<\/a> in Browning Public Schools to help kids access telehealth appointments in privacy, while a heavy metal class<\/a> is giving students a space for creative and emotional expression.<\/p>\n

The girls\u2019 app, Sspomo, (the word for \u2018help\u2019 in the Blackfoot language), is another effort to increase awareness and access to mental health resources.<\/p>\n

\"\"Aiyahna Green, Kalani SunRhodes and Sophia Guerrero-Gobert\u2019s mental health app won the 2025 Congressional App Challenge. Courtesy photo<\/p>\n

The girls used MIT App Inventor to help them code and design the app. Sspomo currently features a small database of resources including definitions of depression, cyberbullying and anxiety, and links to resources such as 988, the suicide hotline number. There\u2019s also a section for journalling, along with an AI Chatbot that users can chat with about their feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to have a problem that we solved with our app,\u201d Guerrero-Gobert said. \u201cIt was a little bit overwhelming \u2026 Mental health being our main topic was what made it so easy for us to stay in the group and not leave the club early on. I think that\u2019s part of the reason why we kept going for so long.\u201d<\/p>\n

The app is not available for public use yet, and the girls said there are other features they want to add, such as online support groups and community resources like Sukapi Lodge, the tribally run mental health center, to connect people with mental health professionals directly through the app.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be the community source that I\u2019d go to, you know, instead of going to the doctor\u2019s office, therapist, scheduling an appointment,\u201d SunRhodes said of Sspomo. \u201cIt\u2019s just right there on my phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

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