GitHub and Hack Club team up to bring more computer science resources to high schools

High school students can ship excellent code, build inspiring projects, and gain real-world skills before they graduate. But for many, the networks, events, and knowledge available in higher education are out of reach. We’re excited to announce our support of Hack Club to enrich high school hackathon communities.

High school students level up with Hack Club

Hack Club helps students think bigger, do things in the real world like running hackathons with real money, and connects them to  people who share their interests.

Through this partnership, students will have access to:

• Hack Club’s network of programs and fellow student leaders across the U.S.
• They also get the GitHub Student Developer Pack, plenty of Octocat swag, training and marketing materials, and curriculum.

And to make it easier to start these programs GitHub is providing grants to every Hack Club and every Hack Club hackathon for the 2019/2020 school year.

• $50 start-up grant for all new clubs
• $50 each semester for all current clubs
• High School Hackathon sponsorship up to $500

How Hack Club helps students

Many tech leaders learned to tinker with code from a young age, and our partnership with Hack Club seeks to make that experience possible across the U.S. Here’s what former and current Hack Club members have to say about the impact of the program: “I started to code at 7 years old, and—like so many other programmers—I’m self-taught. At 16, I launched Hack Club, an online community of high school students. And together, we build tools to teach each other to code. No teachers. No state curricula. Just student hackers in hundreds of different communities across the world talking to each other and organizing hackathons to bring us all together.”

—Zach Latta, Founder of Hack Club

“Hack Club’s curriculum and community showed me that computer science is not something exclusive, untouchable, or unwelcoming, but a field so vast and ever-changing that it has a place for anyone and everyone, regardless of background, experience, or level of commitment. Coding became synonymous with opportunity and brought with it the possibilities of crafting and creating something with the potential of making a difference. Hack Club helped open my eyes to the possibilities of what was seemingly impossible.” —Connie Liu, co-founder of Hack the Fog

“I wouldn’t be who I am today without Hack Club. I ended up co-leading a Hack Club at my own high school and co-leading Hack Camp so that I could give back to the next generation of students and budding coders. Nothing is more inspiring than seeing students with no/beginning coding skills become students building high-impact projects and clubs of their own.” —Selynna Sun, “Hackathon Queen” who has organized hackathons for over 3,000 students

We want high school students to have an experience like Zach, Connie, and Selynna. With this support, we hope that the student hackathon community grows, makes connections, and continues to knock our socks off with what they build.

Find your hackathon

GitHub continues to be a leader in the hackathon and club space, especially including our partnership with Major League Hacking (MLH). Better computer science learning happens through hackathons—that’s why we want to bring Hack Club to high school students everywhere.

Start your own club or hackathon

Students will gain access to the best developer tools through the GitHub Student Developer Pack, and GitHub will be your high school’s hackathon first sponsor through Hack Club.

• Looking for an event in your area? Check out the Hack Club 2019 Hackathon Schedule.
• Need a curriculum for your club or workshop? They have that too!
• Have questions or just want to join the conversation? Get started with the Hack Club Slack Channel.

Hack Club applications are now open—we can’t wait for you to get started.

Apply for Hack Club

Written by

Moira Hardek

@mogalvanize