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<div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-unicode"> Student registration
for Spark 2016 is open!<br>
<br>
Spark is a weekend-long academic program for 7th and 8th grade
students that runs during the weekend of March 12-13th. Classes,
both academic and non-academic, are offered in 1-hour, 2-hour,
and 3-hour time blocks from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and 9am to
4pm on Sunday. Walk-in classes are also available in their own
separate, designated area for registered students.<br>
<br>
This year’s offerings include such exciting topics as chainmail,
cryptography, and the care of elephants at a zoo. The full
catalog can be found at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://esp.mit.edu/learn/Spark/2016/view_classes">https://esp.mit.edu/learn/Spark/2016/view_classes</a>;
a more comprehensive registration guide for first-time users can
be found at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="https://esp.mit.edu/learn/Spark/studentguide.html">https://esp.mit.edu/learn/Spark/studentguide.html</a>.<br>
<br>
As with most programs run by ESP, classes will be assigned by
lottery -- all complete registrations by February 27th will be
considered equally, so take your time to look through the
catalog. You can express interest in as many classes as you’d
like and rank up to three classes per time block as 'priority'.<br>
<br>
The lottery stage of registration will close at 11:59pm Eastern
Time on February 27th. We expect to publish lottery results by
the evening of February 28th. The first-come, first-serve phase
of registration will open on the morning of February 29th, and
you’ll be able to add and drop classes until March 5th, when
registration fully closes.<br>
<br>
The total cost of attending Spark is $40, regardless of how many
hours the student chooses to attend. We provide lunch for
registered students for free on both Saturday and Sunday,
although students are welcome to bring their own food or
purchase food elsewhere. We offer generous need-based financial
aid, and strongly encourage anyone who feels they may need it to
apply.<br>
<br>
For any further questions or inquiries, please email us at <a
class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:spark@mit.edu"><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:spark@mit.edu">spark@mit.edu</a></a>.<br>
<br>
We hope to see you at Spark!<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
<br>
Alexander and Lucia<br>
Spark Directors </div>
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