Parent's Guide & FAQ to Parthenon
What is Hack Club?
Hack Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to foster a wholesome generation of coders, makers, founders, and builders. Hack Club is a network of hundreds of student-led computer science clubs and an online community of over 50,000 high school makers from around the world. Hack Club programs are free and accessible to all high school students. We support teenagers in making real projects in the real world.
Hack Club is supported by notable figures in the tech industry, including GitHub founder Tom Preston-Werner, Dell Founder Michael Dell and executives at Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and GitHub, as well as many up-and-coming tech startups.
What are the Athena Awards?
The Athena Award is a six-month long program at Hack Club designed to encourage girls and gender minorities to code and "ship" technical projects. The program itself, as part of the Athena Initiative, is aimed at and for high school students worldwide.
We aim for students who have completed the Athena Award to be technically proficient and confident members of their communities. Following their completion of the Awards, students should be at the stage where they work on personal projects outside of school, lead Hack Clubs/coding clubs, run hackathons and events in their areas, and overall, are more involved in STEM fields.
The requirements:
- Complete three technical projects (Hack Club's You Ship, We Ship (YSWS) programs, personal projects)
- Complete 30 verified hours of coding (time tracking or participate in summer programs such as Girls Who Code/Kode With Klossy)
What is Parthenon?
Parthenon is the capstone hackathon of the Athena Award, Hack Club's most ambitious initiative to get girls technical. This hackathon weekend is the culmination of the Athena Award—empowering thousands of girls to build ambitious projects and code all year long. After coding for 30 hours and creating 3 technical projects, the top 200 girls internationally earn a spot at Parthenon in New York City to celebrate their hard work over the past few months.
Who can receive an invitation to Parthenon?
- High school students, ages 18 and under
- Students who identify as a girl or gender minority (non-binary person)
- Must have completed the Athena Award (3 projects + 30 hours of coding)
What are the costs associated?
Participation in the event is entirely free, but there are requirements for entry that your child must meet. Without completing and receiving the Athena Award (our online engineering challenge), your child will not get an invite to Parthenon. We will cover expenses at the event for the entire three-day experience, including meals and activities. Participants are generally responsible for their own travel to New York City, but we are able to offer limited travel grants.
What can participants expect?
Parthenon is more than a hackathon — it's a celebration of months of hard work and a chance to join a community of the most talented high school builders in the world. Students can expect a weekend that is structured, enriching, and inspiring.
The Experience
- Kickoff Ceremony: The weekend begins with an Opening Ceremony where participants will meet one another, hear from inspiring speakers, and get hyped for the hackathon.
- Collaborative Hacking: Over the course of the weekend, students will work in small groups to brainstorm, build, and ship ambitious projects. Hack Club staff and mentors will be available throughout to provide technical support and encouragement.
- Workshops & Activities: In addition to hacking, there will be short workshops, team-building activities, and fun breaks to keep energy high.
- Showcase & Celebration: The event will end with a showcase where participants present what they built.
Travel
⚠️ Please carefully read the requirements for Travel Grants before you book your child's travel. ⚠️
Anyone who receives an invitation to join Parthenon may apply for a travel grant. You can find more info here on how travel grants work for the event. If you would like to book your travel now, please read this before booking travel.
Safety
Hack Club is committed to creating a safe and comfortable environment for students at our events. As with previous Hack Club events Hack Club staff have undergone background checks (both at the state and federal level). Adult team members are on-site with attendees throughout the event.
We will have support available and a way for you and your child to contact us if needed. During the event, a toll-free staff helpline (+1 855-625-HACK) will be available 24/7 if you have any questions.
A Parents Call will happen closer to the date of the event for parents of all attendees.
What should my child bring?
Please see our Suggested Packing List for an idea of what to bring. Remember that we will be in NYC in November and will be subject to the elements. Make sure to check the weather forecast leading up to the event!
Visa Information
Check out the Travel Guide for important visa information.
Key Personnel
Who can I contact for more information?
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email: athena@hackclub.com.
We look forward to welcoming your teenager to Parthenon for an unforgettable experience!