MSU Spartan Coding Clubs (SPARCC)

Technology's future begins in today's classrooms!

The Office for Broadening Participation K-12 Outreach and the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University are committed to empowering the next generation of leaders in technology through K-12 outreach.

Mission

We aim to broaden participation in computer science among K-12 students in Michigan and beyond. By engaging K-12 students in face-to-face and virtual programs led by near-peer university student mentors, we aim to build excitement across the rapidly growing fields of information technology, data science, and software engineering.

In particular, we aim to remove the many barriers to entry in technological fields that disproportionately affect students who belong to Black, Latinx, Native American, and underserved communities or who identify as female or LGBTQIA+.

Programs

Learn more about our many technology programs (past and present):

• Technovation
  • Saturday mornings (10 am - noon). Typically 8–10 meetings in fall semesters, scheduled to avoid the Michigan Public School and Michigan State University spring breaks.
  • Next iteration: Fall 2025.
  • Registration opens: July 2025.
  • Offered in-person at the Downtown Branch of the Capital Area District Libraries or the Foster Community Center and remote in All Michigan.
• Spartan Girls Who Code
  • Saturday mornings (10:30 am - noon). Typically 8—10 meetings in spring semesters, scheduled to avoid the Michigan Public School and Michigan State University spring breaks.
  • Next iteration: Spring 2024.
  • Registration opens: November 2023.
  • Offered remotely throughout Michigan and in-person on the MSU Campus to residents of the Greater Lansing Area
• MSU x PathLight Coding Clubs
  • Saturday mornings (10 am - 11:30 am Belize Time). Typically 8–10 meetings, scheduled to avoid the MSU spring breaks.
  • Next iteration: TBD. (Last offered: fall 2023)
  • Registration opens: TBD.
  • Offered virtually from East Lansing.
  • Several MSU Lead Mentors visit Belize in May to meet coders in person and hold award ceremonies and workshops.
• MSU x YAF Ghana Coding Clubs
  • Offered remotely to pre-college teens in Ghana associated with the Young Achievers Foundation Ghana
  • Saturday mornings (10: am - noon) EST. Typically 8–10 meetings, scheduled to avoid the MSU spring breaks.
  • Next iteration: TBD. (Last offered: spring 2024)
  • Registration opens: TBD.
• Girls in Computing Summer Camp
  • One-week summer program
  • Next iteration: Summer 2025
  • Registration open: May 2025
  • Offered virtually from East Lansing

Team

Our outreach programs are led by undergraduate students under the supervision of MSU faculty, staff, and graduate students.

• Faculty & Staff
  • Teresa Isela Vandersloot, Director of Broadening Participation K-12 Outreach, College of Engineering
  • Laura Dillon, Professor Emeritus, Computer Science and Engineering
  • Emily Dolson, Assistant Professor, Computer Science and Engineering
  • Joshua Nahum, Teaching Specialist, Computer Science and Engineering
  • Sebnem Onsay, Teaching Specialist, Computer Science and Engineering
  • Marilyn Wulfekuhler, Teaching Specialist, Computer Science and Engineering
  • Imen Zaabar, Teaching Specialist, Computer Science and Engineering

Sponsors

We are happy to acknowledge the following sponsors for their generous support:

• Ford: Spartan Girls Who Code (Fall 2021 — Spring 2023)
• PathLight International: MSU x PathLight Coding Clubs (Spring 2022, Spring 2023)
• IEEE Computer Society: MSU x PathLight Coding Clubs (Spring 2022)
• ACM Special Interest Group in Software Engineering: MSU x PathLight Coding Clubs (Spring 2022)
• Laura Dillon, MSU x PathLight Coding Clubs (Spring 2022)

Donate

If funding permits, we plan to partner with the Detroit Public Schools Community District to offer after-school coding clubs in several middle-schools in spring 2025 and fall 2026.

Your tax deductible gift will help sustain our current clubs and make these additional clubs possible! Ask your employer if they have a matching program to potentially double the impact of your gift!!

You may charge your gift using the University Development Online Gift Cart: https://www.givingto.msu.edu/gift/index.cfm.

1. Type Women in Engineering into the search box; scroll down and select Women in Engineering Recruitment and K-12 Outreach.
2. Enter the amount and select Proceed to Checkout.
3. After submitting your credit card information and approving payment, you will receive a receipt by email. Save this receipt for your tax records. (Gifts to MSU are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.)
4. Please forward a copy of the receipt to Teresa VanderSloot to ensure that the gift is credited to the SPARCC Program.

If you prefer to mail your gift, please include your credit card number, the expiration date, the name under which the card is issued, and the program (SPARCC) on your gift pledge form (.pdf).

Pledge forms should be mailed to:

Office of Development
College of Engineering
Michigan State University
428 S. Shaw Lane, Room 3536
East Lansing, MI 48824-1226

Ph: 517-884-1000 (Local)
Ph: 800-232-4678 (Toll Free)

Under Construction

This site is under development; stay tuned for more!