CISD business teacher Marieke Mastebroek said Spark was brought back after its initial success.
“Last semester was the first year we did it; we had no idea if parents would be interested in signing their kids up for it," Mastebroek said. "We were all shocked that we got thousands of dollars coming in. We had all these registrations coming right away.”
The overview
Mastebroek said it was her idea to have her business students start a business of their own so they could relate the content she was teaching to something tangible. She divided business responsibilities—marketing, management, research, data analysis and human resources—among her students.
“Something real-world is what I'm always looking for because engagement goes way up when you can do that,” Mastebroek said.
What they offer
Spark enrichment course offerings and pricing were determined based on survey results.
This year, robotics, coding, graphic design, public speaking, art and art history, badminton, cricket, chess, personal finance, Bollywood dance, camera 101 and music theory will be offered.
Each class is taught by skilled high school students on the New Tech campus and supervised by CISD teachers.
“Teaching kids was something that interested me in general, and the opportunity to teach robotics was even better because teaching would lead me to understanding it better,” said 11th grader and robotics team member Omar Andre, who taught robotics for Spark last year and is on staff this year.
Classes will be held every Thursday from Oct. 17-Dec. 19. Course fees are $79 for STEM courses and $59 for non-STEM courses.
Fees are split between paying for school utilities and course supplies. If there is a profit at the end of the course, lead teachers receive scholarship checks and some money may be invested in buying robotics kits for the following year.
Spark teachers are promised volunteer hours, but not pay. However, last year, due to the success of the business, each teacher was given a $200 scholarship check.
What happened
Andre said he had 20 students in his robotics course last year and enjoys making the curriculum, which includes teaching students how to design and 3D print their own phone case.
He adjusted his curriculum this year based on results he saw last year.
“Our course was too complicated. We were teaching high school robotics to these kids who I overestimated their age,” Andre said. “From the first lesson onward, I had to adjust the complexity level.”
Current situation
This year, 30 New Tech students applied for 20 staff positions.
Seniors Immanuel Chilaparapu, Trevor Maxey and Travis Skinner are students in Mastebroek’s business practicum class and are the current Spark managers. Chilaparapu said their responsibilities include marketing, recruiting, creating classes, scheduling, human resources, reviewing curriculum and more.
“I always thought the manager was really scary; I really don’t like interviews,” Maxey said. “But when I did the interviews, it was really easy. It was less stressful interviewing people than it is being interviewed.”
The takeaway
Mastebroek said Spark’s below-market pricing for enrichment courses is attractive to CISD parents.
“Some of these services offered by professional businesses can be very expensive but not attainable for many families. They might want the enrichment for their kids but they can’t afford it,” Mastebroek said. “With these low fees, we can make it attainable. The price point and ... quality is the formula for us.”
Learn more
To register for courses and for more information about Spark, visit www.sparkyourmind.net.
