Vaishnavi Kumbala 

After Hurricane Ida shut down my school for a month and COVID-induced remote learning, I noticed their effects on the mental health of people around me. With this, my interest in mental health advocacy was sparked. When I looked for mental health resources online, many of them were either aimed for adults or too limited in scope, particularly the long research papers and articles I found. With that in mind, I decided to program Saplings, an app that aims to provide a wide range of interactive, engaging wellness resources targeted towards teens. A few months later, Saplings was the winner of my district's Congressional App Challenge, and I decided to continue expanding Saplings further.

Since everyone is different, Saplings aims to provide numerous options, so there is something for everyone to feel supported and involved in the process of managing their mental health. Many of the features, such as the meditation feature, were created to make certain tools more accessible and personalized for teens; for example, the Meditation Studio breaks the process of meditation down into easy, engaging steps where users are guided through picking calming music aligning with their preferences, doing breathing exercises, and meditating. I believe that coding can also be used as an outlet for advocacy and change.

I am addressing the growing mental health crisis globally, as well as the psychological impact of natural disasters on teens, which are only growing stronger and more frequent. The Saplings initiative addresses this in particular by creating resources, educating members of the community, and working with policymakers to expand access to existing resources. Daily life is already so stressful, and as someone who lives in a natural-disaster-prone area, I have noticed that stress levels can run especially high and become evident around hurricane season. Observing the sea of shingles and fallen trees in my neighborhood after Hurricane Ida showed me what it feels like when your city is caught in nature's crosshairs. I am interested in the mental wellness aspect of storms, and developing an adequate support system is vital in my community since disaster-induced trauma and victims' anxiety about their families and home is very real. To address this, Saplings provides features designed to support teens faced with natural disasters or other stressful circumstances. When my school was closed for a month after Ida, I noticed that many people felt more isolated and worried about hurricane-related issues. To help with mental health support, I conduct workshops for elementary and middle school students to learn about growth mindset, resilience, stress management, and positive thinking.

The intent of addressing this issue from different angles is that it will allow the Saplings initiative to come up with a broader range of solutions to help a larger group of people.

• The app provides a wide range of interactive, engaging wellness resources targeted towards teens, so they can be involved in the process of managing their mental wellness. Since everyone is different, Saplings aims to provide numerous options, so there is something for everyone to feel supported and involved in the process of managing their mental health.
• As a member of my state's Student Behavior, Mental Health, and Discipline Task Force, I presented the app to stakeholders and policymakers at a meeting at the State Capitol to spread awareness, and I am partnering with local high schools to bring the app to their campus, through posters, presentations, interactive assembly meetings.
• I have conducted workshops for younger students about resilience, growth mindset, and stress management, in order to help them improve their mental wellness and feel happier. If more individuals are equipped with these tools, they will be able to understand themselves better and be more mindful of their mental health.
• I am conducting research on coping strategies of families after natural disasters, which will improve understanding of the negative effects of storms on the mental health of survivors.

Saplings first started as a web-based app that I developed in September 2021, and since then it has won the Congressional App Challenge, grown to a mobile app on the App Store, is partnering with high schools, and is educating and providing numerous resources, with users in four different countries and three continents. Saplings can only expand from here, and I am planning to work with education officials statewide to further expand access to the app. Eventually, I hope to expand the app's reach across the country, as well as further implementing the app's support resources in schools. Additionally, I hope to incorporate what I have learned from my research on coping strategies into the Saplings app. Furthermore, I plan on conducting more workshops in the future in order to help more students learn about stress management strategies, resilience, and growth mindset. I also plan to bring the app to more disaster-prone areas, as storms are often major stressors for individuals affected by them.

As a member of my state's Student Behavior, Mental Health, and Discipline Task Force, I presented the app to stakeholders and policymakers at a meeting at the State Capitol to spread awareness. After the presentation, various leaders in my community and state have expressed interest in bringing Saplings to their schools or organizations. I am partnering with local high schools to bring the app to their campus, and through this, I am reaching more students. Through these presentations in schools, I also plan to ask for student feedback on how to improve the app and what I can add to help support them further. Saplings will be displayed in the United States Capitol Building, as well as the US House of Representatives' website. Additionally, the Saplings was mentioned in ABC News and Teen Vogue articles about climate-anxiety, and the app was featured on the First Lady of Louisiana's blog. I have also been working with policymakers in order to improve access to mental health resources, so that more individuals who need support are able to receive it. Additionally, through the workshops that I have taught for elementary and middle school students, I have encouraged students to take the knowledge that they learned and help empower others in their communities.