About Summer SPARK!

The SPARK! program is a computer science education outreach effort powered by St. Anne's-Belfield School. SPARK! is making an impact on the Charlottesville community by offering innovative programs to students and teachers throughout the region at low to no cost. Through SPARK!, we have offered:
  1. An annual Hackathon that brings high school students from around the region together with industry experts to solve real-world problems through technology for the past 5 years.
  2. The annual Computer Science Institute to give teachers an opportunity to get hands on with new skills and tools and come away with CS-infused lesson plans for the past 2 years
  3. Summer programming for middle (Exploration) and high school (Launchpad) students that brings together the best of the Computer Science Program at the School: innovative teaching, student-driven learning, and real-world problem solving for the past 5 years.
SPARK! is led by Kim Wilkens, K-8 CS Program Coordinator and Zach Minster, 9-12 CS Program Coordinator at St. Anne's-Belfield School. Together, they have been on the cutting edge of K-12 CS education curriculum development, ensuring that 100% of students at the school experience CS in a growing and thriving student-driven program.

SPARK! is also made possible by our generous sponsors who help ensure we can offer these opportunities at low to no cost.