designLab

St. Luke's Hackathon

The St. Luke's Hackathon is a student-led event held on campus, typically in January, in which participants have time and space to learn something new. While some students might devote this time to developing apps, others are focused on building products, devices, and services of all types.
 

About the Hackathon

The St. Luke's Hackathon is a great opportunity to learn about and practice fabrication, engineering, coding, or simply creative problem-solving. No knowledge of coding or engineering is required, just a willingness to learn while having fun.

In years past, Hackathon participants have gathered to work—collaboratively or independently—on bringing an idea to life. They collaborate, prototype, and then actually build a project. For example, we recently provided our Hackathon participants with the opportunity to work on challenges faced by the Ridgefield-based Prospector Theater, a first-run movie theater providing employment to adults with disabilities.

St. Luke’s faculty, alumni, and volunteer mentors, including senior people from Google, Twitter, Facebook, and impressive NYC-area startups, have been present during our Hackathons to oversee the experience and provide feedback and guidance.

Each year we have a number of students who have never done anything like the Hackathon. Many are not “techies” and arrive with some trepidation. What’s so rewarding is how often those hesitant participants return to participate again and encourage and guide the next wave of curious newbies.
 

Game of Drones

In January 2023, the Hackathon took on a different form when we partnered with Drone Legends to host "Game of Drones," a two-day, interactive drone experience for SLS students in grades 5-12. Please see photos from the event, watch our video trailer below, or check out this event flyer.

Previous Hackathon Moments

  • David B. Pakman—Internet Entrepreneur & Venture Capitalist, Managing Partner at CoinFund

    This event has grown up from an idea to a highly differentiating event for SLS. It embraces our values and our culture—team-based experiential learning in a non-standard environment, and under some duress of sleep-deprivation! This is like the real world.”

  • Michael Diliberto—CIO, Gartner, Inc.

    I didn’t see a single hack that went as it was originally planned on Friday. That is reality. Students, teachers, parents, and mentors were all forced to work through tough challenges, learning at every step. The teams never fell apart, they worked together and helped each other through the hard parts. The St Luke’s spirit of community and collaboration was on full display.”
 

Frequently Asked Questions

List of 2 frequently asked questions.

  • What exactly is a “hack” - I thought hacking was a bad thing?

    Yes, that’s one meaning of the word, but another meaning is to “cobble something together,” especially when it refers to a problem that needs solving. So if you can produce even a semi-working prototype of an app, a website, a device, etc. that solves a problem that bugs you, then you’ve hacked it.  

    The word "hackathon" is a portmanteau of the words "hack" and "marathon." Hack is used in a playful and exploratory sense. Many colleges and businesses run hackathons to engage their communities in creative problem-solving and the thrill of learning something new.

  • What are simple hack examples?

    Here's an example of a hack that was needed during the time of our partnership with the Prospector Theater, as described further up on this page:


    Here are two additional examples:
    • How many times a day do you ask someone or get asked, “What period is it/is next?” You could create a watch, a LED sign for the hallway, a screensaver, etc. which instantly tells you at a glance, “It’s now C period. You have 7 minutes left until D period.”
    • Do you enjoy the messages in fortune cookies or cool quotes? What if you created a device for the Commons where you push a button and a store receipt printer instantly pops out an inspirational quote for you?


St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving 25 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Center for Leadership builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
377 North Wilton Road New Canaan, CT 06840
(203) 966-5612 | admissions@stlukesct.org