SPARK II, Rekindled (Solving Problems and Reaching for Knowledge) is designed to be an outside-of-school science and math academy infused with opportunities to maximize technology as a resource for learning. The primary clients of Project SPARK are the grade 5 and middle school gifted and talented/advanced learners. Articulated shared tenets state that programs for the adolescent learner of high ability should: create small communities of learning, teach a solid academic core, ensure success for all students, provide a staff of able and knowledgeable educators, involve families in the program and connect schools with communities, all programs goals.

Simultaneously, all Honolulu District teachers will be offered professional development opportunities via a series of courses and workshops designed to raise their confidence in science teaching and further their understanding through growth and instructional effectiveness. The adult learners will establish mentorships with students as co-learners. A summer institute will foster the development of skills to integrate technology into their standards-based science and math planned units.

The adolescent learner with a great variability of academic, social, emotional, and physical development is subject to change as well as their levels of awareness. How better to capture these discrete events in the lives of an adolescent than by providing connections through hands-on, inquiry-based, meaningful, and rigorous learning.