A Spring Full of Spark! 🌱
Spring has been full of new beginnings and exciting moments across Spark-Y! We’ve welcomed new interns and staff, and are busy building, learning, and creating alongside our students and community partners. Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks:
Welcome to the Team, Russ and Srishti!
One of our biggest highlights this spring is welcoming two new team members to Spark-Y: Russ Williams, our new Technical Operations Specialist, and Srishti Patel, who has joined Spark-Y as a new member of our team!
Russ’s journey with Spark-Y began as an apprentice, where he quickly stood out for his creativity, hands-on problem solving, and ability to bring ambitious ideas to life. As a Senior Apprentice, he designed and built a scalable, Spark-Y-branded aquaponics model that helps us demonstrate sustainable systems in a way that is both educational and visually impactful. His work continues to shape our space, from renovating the wood workshop to adding a brand-new mural and more ergonomic workspaces.
We are also excited to welcome Srishti Patel to Spark-Y. As an external hire, Srishti brings fresh perspective and a meaningful commitment to our mission as she steps into her role. We are thrilled to have her join the team and look forward to the ways her skills and ideas will support Spark-Y’s work.
Together, Russ and Srishti represent an exciting new chapter for Spark-Y. We are so grateful to have them on board and can’t wait for our community to get to know them!
AIM Academy Interns Get Started
We are excited to welcome four AIM Academy students as Spark-Y interns! Over six weeks, they joined Russ and our team to build two garden beds and install rain barrels right at AIM Academy.
Their first day started with onboarding at our office and an introduction to power tools with Russ, helping them build confidence and hands-on skills from day one. It’s always exciting to watch students step into new learning experiences, and we can already tell this group is bringing great energy to the project. We’re looking forward to seeing what they create together this spring!
Celebrating Patrice Banks
We are so proud to share that our Program Director, Patrice Banks, has been recognized as a 2026 Notable Women in STEM award recipient by Twin Cities Business! Patrice’s leadership, creativity, and dedication to making sustainability education accessible for young people continue to shape so much of Spark-Y’s impact. From building pathways into green careers to creating hands-on learning opportunities for students across the Twin Cities, her work inspires our entire team every day. This recognition is incredibly well deserved, and we’re so grateful to have Patrice leading with such vision and heart.
Life in the NEMS Aquaponics Lab
Our aquaponics lab at Northeast Middle School keeps getting better! Students have been fully immersed in caring for their new turtle friend: meeting the turtle for the first time, learning about habitat needs, and voting on the perfect name.
Outside in the courtyard, students have been helping rake leaves and care for the space around the lab, while inside, excitement grew as our very first zinnias started flowering. Gabe also introduced students to his famous Turtle-Turtle Game, which quickly became a favorite. And of course, everyone enjoyed watching our turtle happily chow down on some grub. It’s been such a fun way to blend science and a little bit of chaos in the best way.
Solar-Powered Learning in Motion
Under Russ Williams’ guidance, our new intern Nate designed the body of a 3D-printed solar car! This hands-on project will soon become part of a sampler activity for Edison High School students who will test different interchangeable parts, such as wheel sizes, to see how design choices impact speed and performance.
This project is a great example of what happens when mentorship and creativity come together. We look forward to seeing this model come to life, and how Edison students rise to the challenge!
Taste-Testing with Owamni
We wrapped up our Eco-Justice class at VOA with a six-course taste-testing feast from Owanmi in Northeast Minneapolis, and what a way to celebrate. They tried bison, duck, sweet potatoes, yucca, wild rice, and crickets, a tasting menu built on pre-colonial ingredients and flavors. It was so cool to share food that's deeply connected to Indigenous foodways and see how Native communities here in Minneapolis support North American food systems.
This was also the first time we've led a classroom entirely on our own, and between navigating ICE presence and e-learning hurdles, it was no small thing, but our students showed up, and so did we. Getting to be creative with this curriculum was truly a memorable experience.
Thank You to Our Donors
This April, we were reminded once again how powerful community support can be. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we raised over $31,000 to help advance Spark-Y’s mission of creating green career pathways and spaces where young people can grow with confidence and purpose.
We also know that support for Spark-Y extends far beyond one gathering or moment. Many of our champions continue to show up in different ways: through giving, advocacy, mentorship, and belief in our work. Whether you supported us this spring in person or from afar, your contribution helps put dollars directly into youth’s pockets. Thank you for believing in our youth, our educators, and our vision for a more sustainable and equitable future. We are deeply grateful to be building this work alongside you.
