SparkNC

🎉 Exciting Update! The SparkNC Board is excited to announce Dr. Lynn Moody as our new President. With her strong background in education and great leadership, Lynn Moody will continue to guide us in igniting futures in tech for students across NC. https://lnkd.in/dgWQRH-C

Welcome to one of our newest #NCTECHmembers, SparkNC. SparkNC empowers students to discover careers in high-tech fields like cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and machine learning, software development, and computer systems engineering. We help schools move away from traditional classes and rigid schedules. Instead, students choose what, where, and how they learn, and educators have flexibility to use innovative strategies to deliver instruction in engaging ways to students across the state. We offer an extensive and constantly evolving menu of learning experiences to give students different paths to gain knowledge, build skills, and showcase what they learn in personalized digital portfolios of work. We also help students connect with industry experts through in-person events, team-based internships, and other rich experiences. __________________________ Are you interested in joining #NCTECH? New members receive : (1) complimentary registration to the State of Tech in the Triangle on Thursday, May 23, 2024. OR (1) complimentary registration to the Summit for Women in Tech on Wednesday, September 25, 2024. Learn More https://lnkd.in/drteu94S #NCTECH #TechGrowth #WelcomeToTheJourney #NCTECHmembers #NCTECHmembership

Check out our winning pitch at ASUGSV's Education Innovation Showcase #ASUGSVSummit's Ed Innovation Showcase ✨✨✨ @asugsvsummit Watch Here: https://lnkd.in/gqurXZRZ

We share our win at #ASUGSVSummit Ed Innovation Showcase with our amazing partners. @SetserGroup and @Area9Lyceum have been incredible collaborative partners in building our dynamic learning platform where learners choose their own learning journey and track their progress. Bryan Setser (he/him/his) Setser Group Morgan Draughon

Connecting Spark Scholars to high-tech businesses helped us win the Education Innovation Showcase at #ASUGSVSummit Our partner #DistrictC17 connects our students with real high-tech businesses to solve real-world problems. Thank you District C

We are number ONE! We won the 2024 ASU+GSV Education Innovation Showcase! We are so excited! Thank you ASU+GSV!

SparkNC is a Top 10 Finalist for the 2024 Education Innovation Showcase ✨ Watch us highlight our work for an international audience LIVE from this year’s ASU+GSV Summit in San Diego. https://lnkd.in/gFAfgksQ

SparkNC Demo Day was a huge success with Lexington City Schools ✨ ✨ It was amazing to see the students highlight their innovative learning and work products in SparkNC. We loved hearing their passion for tech! We are SO proud of them!

We were just announced as one of the Top 10 finalists for this year's #EducationInnovationShowcase! 🤩 We're thrilled to be recognized for our commitment to advancing innovation and meaningful change at the systems level – and we can't wait to pitch and connect live at @ASU+GSV Summit in April!

In October 2023, I completed my first Teamship with District C For the program, my team and I worked with ApSeed Early Childhood Education. ApSeed is a non-profit organization that is working to "ensure all kids have access to learn the skills they need to be kindergarten-ready." To achieve this goal, ApSeed is providing Seedlings—internet-free touchpads with various learning apps—to children across the world. In order for ApSeed to create and distribute the Seedlings, they needed to secure more funding. But to receive the funding, they had to have usage and impact data to prove that the seedlings were preparing the kids for kindergarten. This was the problem ApSeed gave my team and I to work on. Our first step in finding a solution was dissecting the problem. We wanted to understand the real issue that ApSeed was faced with. From there, we began to research different ways to collect usage and impact data from a touchpad that does not have any internet connection. We even considered looking into ways ApSeed could receive more funding without this data. In the end, my team and I came up with two solutions! The first solution was a data app. The data app set up would resemble the screen time feature available on iPhones. The app could be easily accessed by an adult who would share the data with ApSeed once a month. Our second solution was reaching out to Beta Clubs in the areas ApSeed already serves and asking the clubs to partner with them for a service project. Since ApSeed is a non-profit organization, Beta Clubs could hold fundraisers and informational events to raise money while gaining volunteer hours. This idea would contribute to both parties, as Beta members are required to earn a certain amount of volunteer hours each semester, and ApSeed could use the funding and promotion. Participating in the District C Teamship was an amazing opportunity! I learned how to network and think outside the box, and I gained some more work experience. Thank you, Ms. Virginia Pitler, for leading my Teamship experience, and thank you, Ms. Julie Morrow, for providing my team and me the opportunity to work with you. And a special thanks to my SparkLab teacher, Ms. Victoria (Tori Sparks) Sylvestre! If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have known about the wonderful opportunities District C has to offer.