What’s Possible for Your Child

Spark engages communities to provide career exploration and self-discovery opportunities that help middle school students understand, experience and pursue what’s possible. Spark Lab invites 7th graders into various workplaces for an on-site workshop to help students understand what’s possible for their future and career. By connecting students with identified career interests, Spark offers Workplace-Based Mentorships for 7th grade students so they can experience what it’s like to work in a specific industry while receiving direct guidance from a mentor.  Spark offers High School Pathways to 8th and 9th grade students so they can take action and feel equipped with the knowledge and resources to make the possibilities they’ve experienced real.

Students must be enrolled as a 7th or 8th grader at one of Spark’s partner schools.

If selected for Spark, your child will get to experience what’s possible for their future by visiting and learning at professional workplaces in your city. Spark students gain the benefit of career exploration experiences at leading companies; one-to-one mentorships; hands-on project learning; social-emotional skill-building; support with high school preparation and selection; and the opportunity to understand, experience and pursue what’s possible for their futures.

Spark’s Career Exploration and Self-Discovery Program is uniquely designed to meet the developmental needs of students in the middle grades. By visiting leading workplaces after school and meeting working professionals who want to share their careers, students learn about companies, industries and professions in a fun and safe way. Over the course of the fall and spring sessions, Spark Students participate in activities that build skills to help them successfully transition to high school. This includes mapping a plan for the future and finding the right high schools to apply to. One mother of a Spark Student, Rocel, told us, “There’s something appropriate about the word ‘spark’  and what this program does for young people. Working with his mentors and being part of this program helped [my son] Joseph develop new skills and strengths.”

There’s no charge to families when their children participate! Many supporters of The Possibility Movement have come together to make it possible for students to participate free-of-charge. We ask that families support their child in attending each Spark session open, eager and ready to participate!

Student safety is Spark’s top priority. All Spark staff members and Mentors pass a background check as specified by school districts for individuals working with students. Additionally, Spark staff, school staff or adult chaperones escort students to and from Workplace-Based Mentoring sites and their respective schools via private bus transportation. Workplace-Based Mentoring occurs in open spaces within offices, so students are always part of a larger workplace community when working with their mentor.  

Families support Spark Students by ensuring they attend each weekly session, talking about Spark at home and attending occasional Spark events.

 We are thrilled you are interested in enrolling your child in Spark! Learn more about how to bring Spark to your child’s school.

92% of Spark Students have graduated or are on track to graduate on time, compared to an average of 68% in the districts Spark serves. Learn more about our impact.

Spark's partners have a host of resources and tools to support parents, families, volunteers and mentors.  Read more here.