For Immediate Release
June 1, 2017
Teens to Learn and Innovate with TechLab Developers
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF. –June 1, 2017—One hundred teenagers will soon have a chance to put their computer, engineering and graphic skills to a test this summer during Santa Clara County Library District’s (SCCLD) third annual Cupertino Library Teen Hackathon (CU Hacks 3). Scheduled for three consecutive Saturdays beginning June 10th, participants in this year’s event will be divided into teams of six members each. Tasked with the assignment to create a real-world application, teams will be competing for over $2,700 in prizes.
Important Note: Teens are required to attend ALL three of the Teen Hackathon dates:
- Saturday, June 10th from 2 – 4PM – Learning Workshop
- Saturday, June 17th from 2 – 4pm – Learning Workshop
- Saturday, June 24th from 8am – 6pm – Hackathon
All events will be held in Cupertino Community Hall located next to the Cupertino Library.
A partnership between Cupertino Library, Cupertino Library Foundation and TechLab, a local Bay Area company that helps students learn about technology in a creative and collaborative manner, CU Hacks 3’s first two Saturday sessions offer workshops led by TechLab developers. Focusing on creating teams, team building exercises, time management, and coding instruction, CU Hacks 3 provides students the unique opportunity to learn from, collaborate with, and create innovative applications with 1-on-1 guidance from TechLab’s team of skilled instructors, developers, and coordinators.
CU Hacks 3 concludes Saturday, June 24th with an all-day hackathon. Based on a team challenge given at the beginning of the event, each CU Hacks 3 team will have an opportunity to showcase their critical thinking, technical planning and coding development skills used to produce an application directly related to the CU Hacks 3 challenge. These applications (aka “hacks,” such as phone apps, websites, robots, etc.) will address current social issues with the potential to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
A live “pitch” presentation by each team is scheduled for the final day. Addressing a panel of guest judges, each team must explain the purpose, relevancy and effectiveness of the proposed application. Projects are assessed on a defined set of criteria including originality, functionality, technical difficulty and applicability. Winners will be announced and prizes awarded during an award ceremony at the conclusion of the three weekend event.
"I am proud that Cupertino Library is building off the success of our first two teen hackathon events with CU Hacks 3 and continuing to offer incredible opportunities for our community’s teens. Participants are able to strengthen their skill sets in coding and technology, and more importantly in leadership, team work, creative problem solving and civic engagement, all critical skills for success in high school, college, and beyond. I am also pleased that we are partnering with TechLab for this year’s program, and that we have the continued support from the Cupertino Library Foundation which so generously donated the prizes for this year’s event," commented Cupertino Community Librarian Clare Varesio.
CU Hacks is part of the Santa Clara County Library District’s Teen Summer Reading Program 2017. The inaugural CU Hacks (2015), developed by Teen Services Librarian Matt Lorenzo, gained national attention as the first-ever hackathon specifically for teens held in a public library venue. CU Hacks 1 & 2 welcomed a total of 272 teens, including 98 female participants, 45 coding mentors, and 122 first-time hackathon contestants.
REGISTRATION GUIDELINES
- All Participants must register for CU Hacks 3.
- Online registration opens on Wednesday, May 24th at 8PM
- Registration for the Hackathon event on June 24th is required in order to attend all three events
- Participants must be between the ages of 14 - 18
- One registration per person
- Space is limited. Please only register if you can attend all three events.
For more information on Cupertino Library’s CU Hacks programming, visit www.sccl.org/Cupertino .
About the Santa Clara County Library District
The Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) promotes knowledge, ideas, and cultural enrichment. Its collection includes more than 1.9 million books, videos, CDs, DVDs, audiobooks, eBooks and extensive online resources accessible from home or work.
In 2014, SCCLD celebrated one hundred years of service to local residents. For the last several years, SCCLD has been consistently recognized as one of America’s Star Libraries by Library Journal. In 2016, SCCLD was ranked among the top ten large libraries in the United States in the Library Journal Index of Public Library Service. In 2014 and 2015, SCCLD won Innovator Awards from the Urban Libraries Council.
The Santa Clara County Library District includes two bookmobiles, an online library, seven community libraries and one branch library serving Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga and the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. In 2016, the Santa Clara County Library District had more than 270,000 library cardholders and welcomed 3.3 million visitors who borrowed 9.1 million items.
About the Cupertino Library Foundation
The Cupertino Library Foundation is a 501(c)3 Public Benefit Corporation with the purpose of raising money to continue programs which encourage life-long learning and self-improvement through the Cupertino Library. The Foundation has the Non-Profit Seal of Approval by Guidestar demonstrating satisfaction of transparency requirements and is a member of the Google for Nonprofits program receiving tools to work efficiently. It seeks major donations from corporations, the business community and other foundations, as well as individual donations, planned gifts and bequests. Cupertino Library would like to thank the Cupertino Library Foundation for its enthusiastic support of CU HACKS. For further information visit: www.cupertinolibraryfoundation.org
Contact:
Nancy Howe/Chris Brown/Lili Smith
Santa Clara County Library District
(408) 293-2326 ext. 3001/3002/3014
