Join STW staff as they guide you and your fellow change-makers through the planning and execution of your own service project. On each of the five days, you’ll spend the morning online with your group working on your project plan. Then, you’ll have some offline time to work independently or with your family and neighbors. The afternoon brings another online session to regroup on your progress, prepare for the day, and take part in some fun social activities! By the end of the week, you’ll have completed a service project that fulfills a need in your local community.

Ignite Academy welcomes high-energy middle and high school students who are entering grades 7 through 12 in the 2022 – 2023 school year. Participants will be grouped by cause-area of interest, but will get many opportunities to interact with all of their fellow participants.

Ignite Academy will run on Zoom. Through our website, participants will have access to a MySTW account where they will find daily schedules, meeting links, training guides, and more. Zoom sessions will last an average of 60-90 minutes in the morning and 60 minutes in the afternoon, and will be no longer than 90 minutes at a time. We understand that Zoom fatigue is real, and we plan on keeping the lecturing to a minimum and encouraging most of the work to be independent and off-screen. Additionally, STW takes the safety and privacy of our participants and volunteers extremely seriously and has a comprehensive online safety guide available for those who would like to learn more. 

• Effective communication
• Group leadership
• Motivating team members
• Service event planning and marketing
• Group dynamics and motivation
• Increasing community impact
• Fundraising and budget planning
• Conflict resolution
• Diversity awareness
• Personal and group evaluation
• Presentation skills
• Creativity
• Understanding and managing your personal strengths and weaknesses
• Confidence to know that young people can and do make a difference!

Wave Week is a unique peer-learning environment in which the staff is composed of experienced high school and college student leaders as well as professionals in fields such as business coaching, education, and non-profit management. We are proud that 100% of our staff volunteers their time to ensure an incredible Wave Week experience. In addition, almost all of our staff members are Wave Week alumni!  We keep the lecturing to a minimum and teach most of the concepts through a range of small group activities and discussions.

There is no average participant! Spark the Wave prides itself on recruiting a diverse mix of participants and staff, and our participants come to us from a broad geographic, demographic, and economic pool. We have found that exposing teens to young leaders from varied backgrounds creates a more comprehensive and dynamic learning environment. This diversity prepares teens for real-world experiences and helps to develop their communication and team-building skills.

Absolutely! We encourage participants to register with classmates or siblings so they can work on their service projects together if they so choose. Not to worry if you’re coming solo – plenty of people do, and you will make lifelong friendships once you get started.

Head over to www.sparkthewave.org/register to get started.