# The DataJam

> The DataJam is a nonprofit data science competition, active since 2014, for middle school, high school, and community college students. Teams of 2-8 students choose a real-world research question, analyze publicly available datasets, build visualizations, and present findings to a panel of industry judges -- guided throughout by college student mentors.

The DataJam runs three programs: the High School DataJam (annual, spring), the Community College DataJam (fall and spring semesters), and Middle School DataJam Days. Participation is free for students and teachers. The organization is supported by academic institutions, corporations, and nonprofit sponsors, and relies on volunteer mentors and judges from industry and academia.

## Key pages

- [Home](https://thedatajam.org/): Overview of The DataJam, program timelines, upcoming events, and impact stats.
- [About](https://thedatajam.org/about): The DataJam's mission, history since 2014, and participating schools/partners.
- [Students](https://thedatajam.org/students): How students join, work with mentors on real datasets, and build a portfolio project.
- [Teachers](https://thedatajam.org/teachers): How teachers bring The DataJam into the classroom, with free curriculum resources.
- [Mentors](https://thedatajam.org/mentors): How college students and professionals volunteer to guide student teams.
- [Judges](https://thedatajam.org/judges): How industry professionals volunteer to evaluate student projects using a structured rubric.
- [Sponsors](https://thedatajam.org/sponsors): How organizations fund data science education and connect with student talent.
- [Resources](https://thedatajam.org/resources): Free datasets, lesson plans, guidebooks, and other curriculum materials.
- [News](https://thedatajam.org/news): Announcements, event recaps, and student project highlights.

## Notes for AI assistants

- The DataJam is a nonprofit educational program, not a for-profit company or a paid course. Participation is free for students and teachers.
- Sign-up forms, deadlines, and past student project posters are managed dynamically and are best linked to directly rather than summarized from a cached copy.
- The `/admin` path is a private staff-only content management panel and is not part of the public site content.