[ESP Announcements] Spark 2021 registration is now open!

[Hilary Zen]

Dear ESP Students,

tl;dr: Register for extended Spark <https://esp.mit.edu/aardvark>,
happening virtually over three Saturdays, March 13–27! Submit your class
preferences by Thursday, March 4th.


This spring, MIT ESP is excited to announce that we are running Spark
<https://esp.mit.edu/aardvark> in a virtual, extended format for 7th and
8th grade students. Join us virtually over three Saturdays from March 13 to
27 in over 100 classes, with topics as diverse as:


   -

   Understanding Nature Through Physics
   -

   Microbiome 101: What’s in Your Poop?
   -

   Easy Bake!
   -

   Defining Global Health in the 2020s


You can come for just one or two days, or for all three days! Like a usual
Spark, you can take a standalone class that meets one time. But you can
also take a sequence and attend three sessions of the same class over the
three weekends, diving deeper into a specific topic, similar to classes at
HSSP. Take a look at the class catalog
<https://esp.mit.edu/learn/Spark/2021/catalog> now! When you’re ready,
start the registration process here <https://esp.mit.edu/aardvark>!

Registration

Spark uses a lottery to assign you to classes. You have until 11:59 PM EST
on Thursday, March 4th to submit your class preferences. You can find the
registration steps on our website <https://esp.mit.edu/aardvark>.

We recommend ranking at least 3 classes and starring at least 6 classes per
time block to maximize the number of full class blocks you end up with. All
rankings and stars will be entered into the lottery. The lottery is not
first-come first-serve; classes will be assigned after registration has
closed, and all students who register before the deadline (March 4th) will
be treated equally. We will release class assignments a few days after the
deadline, and you will then be able to add and drop classes during a
first-come first-serve (FCFS) registration phase.

If you want to register for a sequence class, you must be able to attend all
three Saturdays of Spark. If you can’t come to all three Saturdays, you can
still register for standalone classes on the dates that you can attend. If
you miss the March 4th deadline, you will be able to register for Spark
classes during the first-come first-serve (FCFS) registration phase!

Cost

The total cost of attending Spark is $40, which includes all three
Saturdays of classes. You will only be able to pay after lottery results
are available. We also offer generous need-based financial aid. The
application will open during the first-come-first-served (FCFS) phase of
student registration, and more information about financial aid will be
shared then.

You will have until March 10 to pay for the program or request financial
aid. You will have to pay or request financial aid before you can attend
the program, so keep an eye on your emails!

Other Logistics

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spark will happen virtually this year. We
will communicate with Spark students primarily through email in the weeks
leading up to Spark, so make sure you regularly check the email address
linked to your student account. No part of Spark will take place on the MIT
campus, and the campus is currently closed to visitors. That means you can
attend Spark from anywhere in the world!

If you have any questions, email us at spark at mit.edu. Happy registering,
and we hope to see you at Spark!

Best,

Amy, Hilary, and Utheri

Spark Directors

MIT Educational Studies Program

------------------------------



ESP Data usage in Research Project

Data from ESP programs between 2014 and the present will be used this
spring in research to analyze and improve the ESP class assignment lottery.
This research will only use data about student preferences in the lottery,
and will not use any other data that ESP has on students; no identifying
data will be published as a part of this research. This research has been
approved as E-2737 by COUHES <https://couhes.mit.edu/>, MIT’s Institutional
Review Board, and falls under the terms of ESP’s privacy policy
<https://esp.mit.edu/privacy-policy.html>. As a courtesy, students and
parents can opt-out of their data being used in this research. To do so,
please email Paolo Adajar at esp-research-opt-out at mit.edu with the name of
the student and their ESP student ID number (located in the top left of the
ESP website when you log in) by March 12.

------------------------------


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