“Solve a problem. Make the world a better place,” Upper School computer science teacher Douglas Kiang challenged a room of 70 students on a Sunday afternoon in March.

What might sound like an ambitious assignment felt more plausible in the setting—the inaugural Menlo Vibe Coding Hackathon, a five-hour event where Middle and Upper School teams used design thinking, problem solving, and creativity to build beautiful, functional apps.

The idea behind “vibe coding” is that you don’t worry about the code, so there’s no need to be a coding whiz or STEM scholar to participate. “It meshes pretty well with Menlo’s philosophy that ‘anyone can code,’” said Kiang. “We want everybody from middle schoolers to seniors to be able to start on a level playing field and create apps that solve real problems for real people.”

The Vibe Coding Hackathon, or “Vibeathon” as it came to be known, was less about code, then, than it was about design. “You’re the one doing the creative work, AI is going to help you make it polished,” Kiang told the teams before starting the timer. Judges were looking for apps that provided a delightful user experience, made the world a better place, and integrated AI in thoughtful and iterative ways.

Olivia ’28, student leader of Menlo’s Vibe Coding Club, was impressed by how younger participants were able to create projects that rivaled those of their more experienced peers, “bolstering their confidence and allowing them to share their creativity without being restricted by technical experience.”

“One of my favorite projects was NutriCore, a meal-planning app that helps users track their health while maximizing sustainability,” she said. “I love their feature, myFridge, which tracks items in my house to suggest recipes to make based on my materials. This is an incredibly relevant topic, as food waste is a problem that affects communities everywhere.”

Other projects included gamifying trash pickup, demystifying sports injury recovery, improving mental health in young teens, finding lost pets, and making secondhand clothing searches more seamless.

“I think the best projects were the ones that introduced students to new ideas; the ones that pushed students to deeply understand the problem and its effects on our communities and environment; and the ones that motivated the students to develop specific, engaging designs,” said computer science teacher Zack Blickensderfer. “My sincere hope is that students came out of this event with new ideas and new ways of thinking, appreciating the capabilities of AI tools, and an understanding of how the study of computer science can enhance your ability to work with AI.”

The only drawback? The event filled up far more quickly than expected. Organizers are already looking at ways to expand it next year so more students can join. (Or maybe there’s an app for that.)

Feel the vibe in this two-minute video: