CCVI gears up for third annual SpartaHacks “hackathon”
November 5, 2018
GUELPH, Ontario – On November 17, Centennial Collegiate Vocational Institute will be hosting SpartaHacks III, the third iteration of the school-organized hackathon.
SpartaHacks is a programming competition that invites students across the Upper Grand District School Board to collaborate on innovative projects within the span of a single day. Such competition places an emphasis on valuable employment skills such as collaboration, problem-solving, and creating creative solutions under a time constraint.
Participants in the competition will be given the chance to learn from certified workshops, providing insight and programming skills used in today’s world, along with a talk from Professor David Chiu from the University of Guelph’s Computer Science Department about what Computer Science can and cannot do.
Students will have the chance to network and create relationships with local technology businesses that have sponsored SpartaHacks III. Centennial CVI is very fortunate to be the only secondary school in the Guelph area and the UGDSB to offer such an experience.
David X, a grade 11 student at CCVI and participant of SpartaHacks I and II, said that, “It’s an excellent learning experience. In my first year, I came in with little experience about web development. However, university student mentors showed our team how to effectively collaborate using version control and gave helpful tips for web design, and in the end we created a chatroom application which earned us a third-place finish.”
This twelve-hour event taking place at the school is an excellent place for students to learn and develop innovative solutions to real-world problems. It is open to all students in the UGDSB to attend and is completely free-of-charge.
The day will feature workshops, guest speakers, and prizes for the best projects. Lunch, dinner, and snacks will be provided throughout the day. As with previous years’ events, attendees will all have the opportunity to compete, regardless of experience level.
This year, SpartaHacks has partnered with the Specialist High Skills Major program to bring an all-inclusive experience to hackers, including food, prizes, and T-shirts.
Whether students are just learning to code or already have extensive experience with programming, this event looks to further enhance “hackers” knowledge of the field of computer science and software development through a day of programming, team-building, and learning.
For more information or to sign up, please visit the SpartaHacks website.