Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Est. 1963
Mr. Omar Crowder- Principal
Mr. Andrew Adams- Director
Staff
Andrew Adams- Director
Mr. Adams graduated from Northeast High School in 2001 as a member of Class 160. During his time at NEHS, he was a member of Project Sparc and afforded an oppurtunity to send an experiment up on the Space Shuttle Discovery with John Glenn in 1998. He has taught history for the School District of Philadelphia since 2006, and has been teaching at Northeast since 2014. He has been directing Project Sparc since 2016. His goal in directing the program is to give students the same opportunities he was afforded as a high school student. When he is not at NEHS, he spends his free time hiking, biking, and exploring the New Jersey Pinelands with his camera.
John Danihiel- Astronomy Advisor
Mr. Danihel has been teaching science and math since 2003 and his favorite subject to teach is physics. While in college he worked at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh, PA and developed a love of learning and all things "science-y". After a short stint as a environmental hydrogeologist, Mr. Danihel took the plunge and got his teaching certification in, you guessed it - science. A new addition to SPARC, he heads up the astronomy division. He likes to provide mentorship and enthusiasm to the after school astronomy club. He thinks its great that students have an interest in astronomy.
Anne Johnson- Medical Advisor
Danielle Parker- Engineering Advisor
Mrs. Parker has been teaching at Northeast for 5 years. She graduated from Millersville University with her B.S. in Science then went on to get her Masters Degree from Drexel University. She is in the process of getting her Doctorate in Digital Transformation. Her main contribution to SPARC has been as coach of the Science Olympiad team for the past 3 years. She is also assists in the other divisions whenever necessary.
Devan Stratton- Engineering Advisor
Mrs. Stratton has been teaching Physical Science since 2015. While attending Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she worked for The Partnership In Education, a nonprofit curriculum development company. While working with the partnership Mrs. Stratton assisted with the creation of video games, television shows, and mobile apps focused on teaching complex neuroscience topics to middle school aged students. After graduation Mrs. Stratton found her home at Northeast High School and has become an active member of the Viking Family. While this is her first year working with SPARC, she has been very involved in the 9th Grade Academy, Grade Improvement, and Summer Bridge Programs. Mrs. Stratton is dedicated to providing her students new opportunities to explore science through technology and hands in learning.
Carole and Ashleigh Niemiec - Robotics Coaches
A mother and daughter tour de force, the Niemiec's have been involved with Project Sparc since 2007. Ashleigh is a proud alumnae of the Class of 166, and her mom, Mrs. Niemiec, has been volunteering her time coaching the Robotics team to many victories in PA MATE and the FTC Challenge since Ashleigh was a student. Project Sparc owes a great deal of gratitude to these two ladies for their efforts in procuring the materials it needs to compete in the many competitions Sparc enters through out the year.
Student Managers
Student Managers
2018-2019
Joury Abdeljaber- Engineering Manager
Joury Abdeljaber- Engineering Manager
Joury Abdeljaber is part of the graduating class of 2019. She had participated in multiple engineering programs at the University of Pennsylvania which developed her interest in engineering. She is the senior manager of Sparc Engineering. Being part of class 178 at Northeast High School has given her the many opportunities to explore many career options. Sparc had left a love for engineering on her.After graduation, she had decided to continue her studies at Temple University and continue to explore the field.
Nuo Chen- Administration Manager
Nuo Chen is a graduating senior in Class 178. She is also part of the AP Capstone Program here at Northeast. She first joined SPARC Administration in her sophomore year and continued on to be a manger in her senior year. Being a manger taught her valuable organizational and leadership skills that she will take with her while going into college. She will be attending Drexel University in the fall of 2019 to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting.
Destiny Danao- Astronomy Manager
Marc Ganthier - Robotics Manager
Marc Ganthier is a member of Class of 179. He is also on the football team at Northeast. He's been robotics manager since freshman year. To him, SPARC means an opportunity to learn new possibilities and to branch out and invest further into his passion of robotics. It has given him leadership abilities and communication abilities so he can work better in a company setting. He plans on being a Marine when he graduates in 2020.
Jawad Haydar - Flight Manager and Sparc Spokesperson
Part of Class 179, Jawad's interests primarily revolve around computer science and astronomy, which he studies in his free time. Being a manager since freshman year, he has orchestrated 2018's Open House Flight and has represented SPARC in various in-school events. He is part of AP Capstone. SPARC has been a great opportunity for Jawad to explore his leadership abilities and to be involved in the world of STEM.
Zach Rudisill - Robotics Manager
Zach Rudisill is a member of Class 178. SPARC was the main reason why he came to Northeast HS, and he has always been excited to attend every meeting. He participated in SPARC Robotics all four years of high school. He feels that having SPARC listed on his college applications has given him a lot of opportunities that he wouldn't have normally gotten. He will be studying rail transportation engineering at Penn State Altoona.
David Schlovsky - Engineering Manager
Being part of the class of 179, had started his career in SPARC Engineering as a member of the TARC rocket project in 2016, and moved his way up through the division to spearhead the Catapult project started in 2019. A proud member of the IB community, that is devoted to the improvement and prosperity of both programs. SPARC had given him an opportunity to express his interest in engineering Architecture that has not been available anywhere in his education up until his introduction in the SPARC High school program in Northeast.