Each year, Studio D students and other student groups come together to participate in an event known as “Hackathon”. It’s a full day dedicated to creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving as participants work on projects, share ideas, and learn new skills.
Hackathon is an event held at Westwood High School, where multiple groups of students gather to identify issues within the school or the surrounding community and develop practical solutions to the problems they encounter.
Ultimately, each group will present its project to an audience in the hopes of securing the funding for its solution, depending on the placement of their presentation.
“As long as you keep an open mind, get information, and realize when that information doesn’t fit with your solution, you should be able to adjust your solution to get the best possible outcome,” said Dustin Hill, Studio D teacher.
Throughout Studio D and other classes, teams gathered around computers, whiteboards, and sticky notes as they built and revised their ideas.
Some students focused on school-wide issues, such as mental health support and fixing lunch times, while other students tackled smaller but meaningful problems they noticed in daily life.
For many participants, the Hackathon pushed them out of their comfort zone and into deeper collaboration.
“We’re working on different clubs for the school that students can join, first figuring out what students want and what students need. Right now, we have half the group interviewing people at the moment, to see what they want,” Said Cameron Mack, a Freshman at Westwood High School.
As the Afternoon continued, the atmosphere shifted from chaotic brainstorming to focused preparation.
Teams formed their pitches, finalized their prototypes, and worked through last-minute revisions before presenting.
“We’re making extreme progress; we have some students out interviewing. It’s going very smoothly,” said Jaxson Barber, a sophomore at Westwood High School.
The dedication Barber described reflects exactly what organizers hope students gain from the experience.
Mr. Hill said the event teaches lessons that students carry far beyond the day of the Hackathon.
“Success for Hackathon is really just a sense of student pride, taking the initiative to not only see what problems are, but their own solutions, because kids are the future. “
Building on that idea, Hill shared what he hopes students gain by the end of the day.
“I hope students walk away with building more confidence and the ability to speak up when they see something that they don’t like, and problem-solving,” said Mr. Hill.
When presentations began, each group stepped up to explain their idea and demonstrate how it would address the problems and concerns they identified.
Judges decided on projects based on creativity, achievability, and ultimately awarded funding to the top solutions.
By the end of the event, students were filled with pride, accomplishment, and excitement as they presented their work.
Hackathon once again proved to be more than a competition or presentation; it was a reminder of creativity, initiative, and problem-solving within Westwood students.
