Mentoring our Teens Learning Code Hackathon
Thanks so much for volunteering as a mentor at our upcoming learning experience. We are very excited to have you on board to make this happen.
Hackathons run a little differently from our regular learning experiences, please take the time to look over the below important information. Thank you again!
Your role as a mentor:
The role you will play is what makes our workshops possible and so special. Throughout the day, you’ll work with a group of approximately 6 learners. There will always be an instructor there to deliver the lesson content. Our mentors are an integral part of a learner’s experience by being positive, ensuring they feel comfortable and welcome, and by being their support system. This includes:
- Answering any learner questions
- Proactively looking out for learners who might be displaying indicators of feeling overwhelmed, lost or confused
- Providing encouragement to keep trying and a positive attitude towards learning
- Helping learners to follow along and stay on track with the lesson
- Asking questions to the instructor on behalf of learners who might be shy or hesitant to ask
We think that teaching something new to someone is as exciting as it gets. Please review our Mentor Handbook and learn more about your role here before you arrive at the workshop: http://www.canadalearningcode.ca/mentor.pdf We can answer any questions then too!
The Hackathon Experience:
We ask that you arrive 30 minutes before the start of the session and be prepared to stay up to 30 minutes after the session has ended. Some learners might arrive 15 minutes before the start time hoping to get your help in getting set up! Please bring nut-free snacks and a water bottle. If it’s a full day workshop (6 hours+), lunch will be provided.
Below are the start and end times for each day of Hackathon:
DAY 1 – 6pm to 9:30pm
DAY 2 – 9:00am to 8:30pm
For more details on the daily breakdown, check out our Hackathon Schedule.
The Schedule:
You can preview the schedule here: Hackathon Schedule.
Technology we’ll be Using
For those who are interested, here’s a list of the technology & programs will be using throughout the event.
Meals and Snacks
Meals will be provided to all mentors during their scheduled days. You are welcome to bring your own snacks provided they are nut-free! Our programs are a nut-free environment as several of the participants have allergies.
Demo Day & Community Presentation
At the end of Day 2, everyone is invited to join us (even if you aren’t scheduled to mentor that day!) to see the projects the participants created during the Hackathon. Joining us will be the parents and friends of the participants, as well as representatives of the tech industry who have supported our programs! If it is at all possible for you to attend, we’d love to share our experiences with you!
The Confirmation:
If, for some reason, you can no longer volunteer for the day/shift you have signed up for, please let us know as soon as possible by replying to this email.
Once again, we would just like to add that this experience could not happen without you and that we are grateful to have such great support of our community. Please let us know if you have any questions at all.
We can’t wait to see you all on hackathon day!
Thanks!
Canada Learning Code Team