High school students across Perth County were given the opportunity to take a deep dive into the realm of technology, with a specific focus on the environment.
“I learned how apps are created because I had no idea. There is a lot that goes into it that I didn’t think about before,” said Hailey McLean, a St. Marys DCVI student.
The Stratford Intermediate School invited students to the Pathways Innovation Centre located on the third floor of the school. Tech-savvy students had the opportunity to showcase their skills to approximately 75 students during the Avon Maitland District School Board's major coding learning experience.
Students from around the AMDSB, including St.Marys DCVI, Central Huron Secondary School and Goderich District Collegiate Institute, had the chance to discover various apps such as Keynotes, Pages and GarageBand through iPads.
After missing the bus one too many times, McLean said she wanted to create an app to help her track it. Apple showed her ways to get her ideas across by organizing them into an app.
“I thought about how great it would be to have an app that would show me where the bus is. I planned for other schools, other routes by laying out all my ideas into one app,” said McLean.
Madison Lee, a 15-year old student at Central Huron Secondary School, said she worked on a project focused on keeping the environment clean. Working on ideas related to compostable restaurant packaging, Lee said the afternoon at the centre helped condense her strong messaging into an informal presentation.
“I learned how to get my message across in a short amount of time,” she said.
The messages were displayed in different forms including app development, video, and photographs.
“Students worked to create awareness, solve problems, make a difference, and change behaviour,” said Jodi Froud, pathways coordinator, AMDSB.
Keith Edwards, pathways coordinator for the Specialist High Skills major program, said students earned certifications towards their diploma.
“We built a program that focused on presenting a challenge within the community that the students could find a solution to,” said Edwards. “The focus really was process and not product because it was such a short period of time — it wasn’t about developing a finished and refined product but this is the step one of the process.”
The centre features hands-on, high-tech tools for students to strengthen their technological skills and is available to students across the school board.
