D230 Hosts First Ever 'HackaThon' Marathon

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL -- High School Dist. 230 is planning its first-ever Hack230, a hackathon for students at Sandburg, Stagg and Andrew High Schools as well as surrounding schools, from Saturday to Sunday, April 29 to 30 at Andrew High School.

This two‐day event will provide all of the support needed for teams to hack out a real‐world solution to a real‐world challenge.

"Don’t worry, we are not going to be illegally accessing government or corporate databases," said teacher Cathy Wojcik. "A hackathon is an invention marathon. Programmers, designers, builders and more come together to learn, build, and share their creations over the course of a few days."

“Hacking” is a term which is used to describe the act of quickly and intelligently creating a real application and solution that others can use. Hackathon projects will center on health care/biopharma, energy efficiency and human services. These areas have huge potential for growth, are in need of real world solutions during this time of expansion.

The combination of real-world mentors and high school students foster the promotion and innovation of implementable solutions. The event is open to all current high school students.

To participate, teams or individuals can sign up on the Hack230 website. All are welcome and no programming experience is necessary. Students with an interest in technology, healthcare, biopharma, interactive marketing, app development, energy efficiency, human services or who just want to learn something new can join HACK230

Adult industry experts, as well as recent high school graduates can participate as mentors and team leaders.

Check-in begins at 9:00 a.m. Saturday April 29, and the event will run until Sunday, April 30, with closing ceremonies starting around 10 a.m. This event is an overnight lock‐in, however, in case of an emergency participants will be allowed to leave once parent contact is made with an event organizer.

Register now for Hack230. The event is free for the first 150 students who sign up. Meals and event swag are included at no cost. The deadline for registration is March 28 at 3:00 p.m.

Contact Cathy Wojcik at cwojcik@d230.org with questions.