While Southeast Guilford High School has a Spark lab, the agreement signed on Tuesday will make UNCG the first university in the state to have a SparkHub.
Unlike a traditional classroom, SparkHub uses a modular learning style where students can move at their own pace to complete modules in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, cybersecurity, software development, UX/UI design, data analytics, game design, and esports.
"We're competency-based. We traded in the seat time requirement for skilled competency," President of SparkNC, Lynn Moody, said during the signing ceremony. "Students gain credit by completing practical, real-world projects. It's not about passing a test in the Spark lab. It's about being able to show what you know."
Jimmy Nguyen, an ambassador for the SparkHub at Southeast Guilford High School, said through the Spark program he recently did a team-based internship at a local company called Fungi Marketing.
"We analyzed their problem, prototyped a solution, and presented our results to the founder of the company," Nguyen said. "I contributed by bringing my experience with coding to produce a prototype website that we presented to them."
Under the new partnership with UNCG, Guilford County high school students enrolled in the program would come to the Spark lab on UNCG's campus.
"It just swaps out for a normal class period," John Borchert, Director of the Network for the Cultural Study of Videogaming, and the Academic Lead for Esports at UNCG, said. "So instead of going to biology or chemistry, you go to Spark Lab."
Several high-profile guests attended the signing ceremony inside UNCG's Moore Humanities and Research Building, including state Senator Phil Berger, state Representative Tracy Clark, President of the UNC university system Peter Hans, and Greensboro Mayor Marikay Abuzuaiter.
In addition, company partners representing Apple, IBM, AI Consultant, Epic Games, Lenovo, TEKsystems, and Cisco were in attendance.
Borchert said one of the benefits of the way the Spark program is structured is students can choose between doing multiple concentrations or specializing in a specific area.
"Students can choose a number of different pathways and pursue them and then stack those different curricula or those little mini modules together," Borchert said.
He added that the overall goal of the program is to give students real-world experiences working in a tech or STEM-related field.
"What they walk away with is something that they can demonstrate," Borchert said. "A real project that they've done that is a portfolio piece that's something for their application process, whether they are going directly into the workforce or coming to UNCG."
Guilford County Schools Superintendent Whitney Oakley said the new SparkHub helps support a school district initiative known as the Guilford Guarantee.
"The Guilford Guarantee is our promise that all students can graduate from Guilford County Schools with college credits up to an associate's degree," Oakley said. "Or an industry-recognized credential or a meaningful workplace experience."
Borchert said he hopes the SparkHub at UNCG becomes a model universities across the state can follow and adopt.
"If we see a rise in students in STEM fields at UNCG, and then if we see a rise in placements in high-tech industries at UNCG, we'll know the SparkHub is working," Borchert said.
© 2026 the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
