The ribbon was cut and the doors thrown open for a new and innovative program called SparkTank earlier this week.  SparkTank is a program within the Ottumwa Community School District for high school juniors and seniors.  SparkTank is a project-based experience that connects teams of students with local businesses and organizations to solve real-world problems and provide value-added opportunities for students to give back while becoming immersed in a professional culture.

What sets students at SparkTank apart is the understanding that they are becoming a member of a unique community of like-minded individuals with the expressed goal of preparing for post-secondary education and a perspective professional path.  Students at SparkTank will be put into collaborative situations to work in a project-based real work environment where they must be willing to comply with business ethics and perform in a business culture.  Students at SparkTank are described as student-associates, because they operate as partners or colleagues in a business or work setting.

Student-associates at SparkTank will practice critical thinking; complex communication; creativity, collaboration, flexibility and adaptability; productivity and accountability, along with employability skills, with a real-world audience in authentic situations.

Local businesses have the opportunity to partner with SparkTank in several ways: by providing projects, being a guest instructor/speaker, being a mentor, providing a job shadowing experience or with company tours.

The Legacy Foundation is proud to be a partner in this unique learning platform and to provide seed funding for the first three years to assist with the launch!

For more information about SparkTank, visit ottumwasparktank on Facebook or www.ottumwaschools.com/highschool/sparktank.