Last month, three Cambridge students from Prospect Hill Academy Charter School participated in the My Brother’s Keeper Hackathon in Philadelphia, PA. Not only did they proudly represent Massachusetts in the competition, they also finished in first place!
Pharaoh Saunders of Cambridge, Daoud Sogoba of Somerville, and Jarad Parris of Brockton were tasked with imagining an app that can change the world, create a business, or both, as well as writing its basic structure and business model. Out of this challenge came the “Change Your Community” (CYC) App. After accepting their first place award, the trio is now working with others who also participated in the Hackathon to develop the app.
All three students learned basic computer science skills in high school, where they participated in Microsoft YouthSpark’s TEALS program. TEALS (Technology Education And Literacy in Schools) is a grassroots program that recruits, trains, mentors, and places high tech professionals from across the country who are passionate about computer science education into high school classes. They act as volunteer teachers in a team-teaching model when the school district is unable to meet their students’ computer science (CS) needs on its own.
Read more about the My Brother’s Keeper Hackthon here: http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20141204/NEWS/141208398/#sthash.5nq9sKPO.dpuf
Learn more about TEALS: www. http://www.tealsk12.org/
TEALS is part of Microsoft YouthSpark, our commitment to empower 300 million young people with opportunities for education, employment and entrepreneurship. To learn more about Microsoft’s commitment to youth and education, visit our YouthSpark Hub or follow us on twitter at @msftcitizenship.