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Chantilly High School student Meghana Nannapaneni won first place in the 2026 Fairfax Area High School Shark Tank Technology Challenge with an app designed to support older adults and their caregivers.
Nannapaneni was formally recognized during a May 19 reception at the Fairfax County Government Center. Community leaders attending the ceremony included Supervisor Pat Herrity, education official Sandy Anderson and INTEGRITYOne Partners CEO Pete Lamont.
Now in its 10th year, the competition challenges Northern Virginia high school students to create practical assistive technologies or mobile apps that could improve life for older adults and people with disabilities.
Nannapaneni’s winning project, Sage4Health, targets two major concerns facing older adults: cognitive decline and social isolation. The app is intended to help seniors manage their mental and emotional well-being, strengthen social connections and ease some of the daily emotional and physical strain on family caregivers.
Other student technology projects also received recognition at the event.
Audrey Wang of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and Marcus Wang of McLean High School earned second place for Memory Wall. Woodson High School students Logan Lee, Mayu Zuniga and Lucas Shen placed third with N1 Glasses.
Honorable mentions went to Silver Glide, created by Jacob Colon, Kalab Getachew, Natanim Getachew, Elijah Greene, Caleb St. John and Chloe Roberts of Accelus Academy, Reston Community Center and South Lakes High School; Sunny Talk by Langley High School student Jason Wu; and Empowerment Hub by Thomas Jefferson student Sahas Rajeshirke.