A free hackathon for high school students

The School’s Out Hackathon (SoHacks) is a 24 hour coding event engineered to help students learn how to code. Students can make an app, website, or a piece of hardware with the help of experienced mentors, structured classes, and like-minded peers. This event is FREE, and food is provided.

View full rules

Prizes

TOP 3 BEST IOS HACK

The top 3 hacks will be awarded SoHacks memorabilia

TOP 3 BEST ANDROID HACK

The top 3 hacks will be awarded SoHacks memorabilia

TOP 3 BEST SOFTWARE HACK (2)

The top 3 hacks will be awarded SoHacks memorabilia

TOP 3 BEST HARDWARE HACK

The top 3 hacks will be awarded SoHacks memorabilia

MOST INNOVATIVE HACK

The most innovative hack will be awarded a virtual reality head set.

BEST CO ED TEAM

The best CO ED team will be awarded Amazon Echo.

BEST CLOUD DATABASE HACK

$25 VISA gift card for each member of the team

CODEUP PRIZE (BEST WEB HACK)

SWAG bag and $25 gift card to Alamo Drafthouse for each member of the team

BEST BEGINNER HACK

The best beginner hack will be awarded Microbit.

BEST INTERMEDIATE HACK

The best intermediate hack will be awarded raspberry pi kit.

BEST ADVANCED HACK

Motion Leap Controller

BEST EDUCATIONAL HACK

The best educational hack will be awarded Bluetooth headphones.

BEST WEBSITE CREATION FOR THE RUSSELL RUSH HAUNTED TOUR

$50 gift card for each member of the team

Devpost Achievements

Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:

Eligibility

  • Entering 9th graders and Exiting 12th graders
  • Teams of 4 or less

Requirements

As long as it's built at the hackathon and is technological, you're good to go (hopefully uses code)!

How to enter

Go to sohacks.com and click on the register button. Then you will be taken to Eventbrite where you can either sign up as a mentor, student, or volunteer. After you sign up you will be sent media release waivers that you must fill out. Finally, if you are a mentor or volunteer a background check will be sent to you that you must fill out.

Judges

Marina Gavito

Marina Gavito
Strategic Innovation Director at USAA

Omar Leonardo Quimbaya

Omar Leonardo Quimbaya
Founder of the CyberDEF Dojo

Kay Jones

Kay Jones
CEO of CodeUp

Stefanie Young

Stefanie Young
WordPress Expert at iNNOV8 Place

Ashley Jones

Ashley Jones
Operations and Community Manager at Tech Bloc

Brian Smith

Brian Smith
Director Operations Excellence at USAA

Judging Criteria

  • Creativity
    Taking a creative approach to an issue is perhaps one of the key ideas behind a hackathon. Projects should exhibit some degree of creativity in their final product.
  • Problem Solving
    Projects should attempt to solve common problems in our society today. Solutions should be innovative and effective to earn full points in this category.
  • Well Designed
    A well-designed product tends to do well in today’s marketplace, and so the hacks should show some element of good design in them. Whether it is flat or skeuomorphic, a design should be pleasing to the eye.
  • Technical
    Advanced technology is all around us. At hackathons, products should use as many tools as possible to make sure that the product is the best it can be.