York High Hackathon – have you got what it takes?
What defines a career ‘in tech’ is still not greatly understood by many, let alone the skills and competencies you might need to thrive in the industry. As part of the city’s leading employers’ collective, York Cares, we’re helping to build young people’s confidence and raise aspirations for their own futures – showing them what is possible when they dare to work hard and dream bigger.
When we joined York Cares as a board member in 2019, we were hoping to use our time, professional skills and expertise to benefit the local community. And what better way to do that than support one of their Aspirations initiatives?
Project Dare, to be specific.
On 12th December we held our first Project Dare event: the York High School Hackathon! It was a superb and jam-packed day, so read on for the low down…
The aim of the day =
To give young people, often with barriers to inclusion, workplace experiences to increase their motivation, inspire their future career paths and show them what’s needed to be successful in their future endeavours.
The challenge =
To host a visit to the boxxe HQ where secondary school pupils will have to apply their academic learning to solve a real-world industry specific task:
‘You are a board of directors at your school. You have just received a technology grant of
£5000 which can be used to purchase a number of devices to improve IT lessons/teaching at your school. We will show you a number of devices that are available for you to buy using your grant – you must decide which devices you will buy for your school and pitch how they will be used to enhance student IT learning to a panel of judges.’
The hosts =
A panel of Dell and boxxe experts, offering 15 minute expert insight sessions to 6 hackathon teams. – A super important aspect of the day, as YorkCares says: “employers play a key role in bringing the world of work to life by challenging young people with real-world problem-solving activities and empowering them to succeed.”
Throughout the day, our experts were on hand to: help students fine tune their presentations, give them insight into tech careers for students of all abilities, answer any subject specific questions and empower them to use the skills they already hold.
With that in mind, our panel included:
💻A technical delivery specialist who offered tips on common technology project scoping
👩💻A pre-sales specialist who advised them on the uses of each piece of tech
🛍A salesperson who gave the teams pitching tips
💥A marketer who gave them tips for marketing their proposal
💰A member of finance who walked them through all things budgeting
👨🏻🏫A learning and development expert who whipped their presenting skills into shape
The help =
- Some super cool tech to play with (we’re talking Oculus VR headsets, Dell Alienware laptops and a 50 inch Microsoft Surface Hub 2S – an interactive whiteboard which brings remote workers into one collaborative space!)
- A £5000 grant (albeit imaginary!) to provide some real-world confinements
- Our lovely experts
The judging criteria =
We split the criteria across 4 categories, so they had to demonstrate: a solid understanding of the brief, a full investigation into the merits of their solution, its overall cost effectiveness, and finally their excellent collaborative presentation skills.
The students came up with loads of different ideas. The VR headsets and Alienware laptops were definitely the most popular, with many choosing a mixture of devices – which they hoped would maximise their technology investment.
Most of the groups focused on using the tech to create interactive, engaging lessons to improve grades and attendance, whilst highlighting the key sustainability advantages of their proposals. A virtual trip to a mountain top during a Geography lesson, anyone? (No need to travel unnecessarily!)
“What an all inspiring, well thought out day that has completely surprised me. My expectations were high but I did not know there would be so many great ideas, so many great presenters and an overwhelming desire to learn and apply themselves. I feel very proud to be part of today and it was an honour to be part of the expert panel – that was a very, very hard decision. Well done to all the Pupils.” – Steve Scholey – Dell Technologies Partner Account Manager and York High Hackathon Judge
The winners =
‘The NPC’s’ won on the day.
Judge Aleksandra Dabrowska thought the winning team’s performance was thoroughly impressive; their “presentation skills were outstanding, they clearly outlined the research they undertook to prepare for their presentation. They won the judges over with their interactive, inclusive and confident delivery.”
The prizes =
For boxxe, Dell and York Cares?
We’re continuing our mission to create positive change to the city by delivering help to where it’s needed most. In this case, offering workplace experiences to improve social mobility.
“I believe it is so important to develop young talent and show them the opportunities there are in the IT industry – you don’t just have to be technical to work in IT. Throughout the day it was amazing to see how much their confidence grew and that they left looking excited. I love being part of a company that allows us to use our time to really make a difference and give back to our local community.” – Lauren Ryder – boxxe Head of Partners and York High Hackathon Team Coordinator
For the students?
They gained: the confidence and ‘daring’ to reach for more. Career insights. Inspiration. Access to role models. The chance to network. To make connections with people they wouldn’t normally meet. Learn how to actively listen. Understand that there’s no such thing as a stupid question…
Because we aren’t born experts, but with the right knowledge, motivation and support we have the power to become them!
Oh, and merch bags for all participants, plus Chromebooks for each person in the winning team, courtesy of Dell!
“The day was truly inspiring for both myself and the high school kids. Delivery of a fun and informative learning experience often is reliant on the teaching staff. This should not be the case and it should be considered that a child’s experience in today’s education can be improved with the help of local businesses… Just like we did here at boxxe. It’s important to help pave the way for our future generation from adolescence to adulthood.” – Tarah Mason – boxxe Account Director and York High Hackathon expert
“Employee-volunteers from boxxe and Dell hosted a really insightful day for the pupils, which highlighted how important it is for secondary school pupils to have an opportunity to develop their skills and confidence in a workplace environment and help them prepare for their future careers. It was a great way to empower pupils to achieve their goals, whilst demonstrating a number of different career paths within the ever-evolving technology industry.” – Ronan Crawford-Ellin – YorkCares Volunteering Project Officer
Before we leave you, we’d like to extend a big thank you to Dell, who are as passionate about developing and teaching students as boxxe are. It was an honour to partner with you and your sponsorship of the event truly made it a day to remember!
And a final special mention goes to our formidable Community Partner, Ms Pulleyn, and her tireless efforts to ensure the York High Hackathon was a success – thank you, Laura.
