I am excited to let Boston area parents know about an upcoming hackathon event created just for high school students. It’s called LexHack and it is being held on Saturday, September 19 at Lexington High School from 8am-11pm (yes, it is 12 hours long!)
What’s a hackathon? It is an event where a large number of people, generally computer programmers, come together to collaborate on software projects.
LexHack is a FREE event for high school students of all programming abilities. If your child has an interest in computer programming and/or hardware, they should consider attending. Students will compete as a team of four students or less. And don’t worry, if your child does not have a team, they can form a team or join one on the day of the event.
Teams will have a chance to present their projects to and get feedback from a panel of tech professionals. The day is full of great prizes, lots of giveaways, free delicious food (what good hackathon doesn’t include a lot of food and drinks!) and mentors to help students along the way.
I recently had the chance to hear from many of the students who created and participated in last year’s first-ever event, and they all had an incredible time. They said the hackathon was a great way to learn a lot in a small period of time, and meet people and make new friends.
What was really impressive was that the event was organized by students themselves including Lexington High School juniors Noah Moroze, Kevin Le, Michael Yang, Clive Chan and Achal Srinivasan and Lincoln-Sudbury senior Logan Engstrom.
What if your child does not have programming experience?
While many students attending the hackathon have some programming experience, it is not necessary. There are mentors at the event who will guide students throughout the day, including tech professionals and college students from the Boston area. No matter the skill level, every team will complete a project by the end of the day.
Check out this video from 2014 to get a glimpse of the event. What struck me, was the great energy and vibe coming from the students. The students were really engaged.
Register online now!
Signing up is easy. Just complete a one-page registration form.
Check out the FAQs to get answers to all of your questions.
This is sure to be a fun learning experience for high school students and a way to try something new and learn a lot in just 12 hours. Last year there were about 60 participants. Based on the success of the first hackathon, I expect those numbers will grow this year. Be sure to sign up now.
Image Source: LexHack photos
