YouthSpark Live, is a global community enabling young people to collaborate, inspire and support each other while using technology to spark change. YouthSpark events give learners an opportunity to get together to share ideas for using technology.

On Friday 23 June 2017, over 260 learners, in nine venues, in eight provinces participated in a YouthSpark Live event. The first part of the event involved a panel of IT professionals talking about how they got into the IT industry. This panel discussion took place at Brescia House School, which hosted the Gauteng event, but learners from eight other venues were able to watch the session via Skype broadcast. The panel were able to answer questions and provide insight on topics such as how to go about getting an internship, what studies a high school learner should pursue, how does it feel to be a woman in a male dominated industry, and what the value of certification is in a fast-paced industry. Learners then got to try their hand at some basic coding using the code.org/minecraft tutorials. The Brescia YouthSpark Live event extended on to Saturday 24 June 2017 so that learners could also experience Minecraft and additional coding activities.

Here are images from some of the venues.

Brescia House, Johannesburg

Gwanyesa

Hillcrest

Uppington

Witbank