Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development
June 25, 2015
Encouraging Youth Through Investments in Innovation
Youth Innovation Projects Support Unique Learning Experiences
In support of innovation and new learning experiences for youth, up to $400,000 in funding will be provided to 37 schools and organizations throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. The Youth Innovation initiative helps create awareness of the value of innovation in the province�s high-growth resource and non-resource based industries. The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Business, Tourism, Cultural and Rural Development, made the announcement this morning at St. Bernard�s Elementary in Witless Bay. He was joined by the Honourable Keith Hutchings, Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs and MHA for Ferryland.
�The youth of our province are the leaders of tomorrow and it is important that they are provided with opportunities that encourage innovation, creativity and build essential skills. Training and skill development prepares students and youth for their future careers and provides them essential insights into potential career paths. Through funding of almost $400,000 through the Youth Innovation initiative, we will assist youth throughout Newfoundland and Labrador in advancing their skills and in helping to create awareness about the value of innovation in the province�s dynamic and emerging workplaces.�
- The Honourable Darin King, Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development
St. Bernard�s Elementary is a recipient of youth innovation project funding which will support students in Grades 1 and 2 in their ability to use technology to enhance their problem solving and collaborative skills in math and science. The Youth Innovation Program provides non-repayable contributions, up to 80 per cent of eligible project costs to a maximum of $15,000. A complete list of recipients can be found in the backgrounder below.
�I feel very confident in the innovative opportunities being made available to youth across our province and the ability of our young people to find creative solutions, use leading-edge technologies and produce adaptive solutions. It also highlights the central role innovation plays in creating a platform that connects youth in a meaningful way to technology based opportunities, while also highlighting the central role innovation plays creating long-lasting beneficial experiences for youth in rural and urban areas. I look forward to seeing where today�s innovative youth will take Newfoundland and Labrador in the future.�
- The Honourable Keith Hutchings, Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs and MHA for Ferryland
Youth innovation projects inspire youth to explore their creative thinking abilities, while also improving their collaborative problem-solving skills. Investing in youth innovation promotes a culture of creative thinking in Newfoundland and Labrador and careers in the advanced technology sectors such as sustainable energy development, life sciences, and information technology. Since 2009, the Provincial Government has invested over $2.6 million in 172 projects that support youth innovation.
QUICK FACTS
- Funding totalling up to $400,000 will support 37 innovation projects throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.
- The Youth Innovation initiative provides non-repayable contributions, up to 80 per cent of eligible project costs to a maximum of $15,000.
- Additional information on Youth Innovation funding can be found at: www.btcrd.gov.nl.ca/innovation/youth/.
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Media contacts:
|
Tansy Mundon Director of Communications Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development 709-729-4570, 693-1865 tansymundon@gov.nl.ca |
Darlene Dunne Executive Assistant to the Honourable Keith Hutchings MHA for Feryland 709-729-3053 ddunne@gov.nl.ca |
BACKGROUNDER
2015 Youth Innovation Project Recipients
| Applicant Name | Project Name | Project Description | Community |
| Beachy Cove Elementary | �The cAPP Project� - A coding-literacy venture | The project will involve publishing student�s writing in a Listen-to-Reading App. | Portugal Cove - St. Philip's |
| Botwood Collegiate | BBC Robotics | The Botwood Robotics Team will retrofit an existing robot. Remaining parts will allow for a second robot to be created, enabling program expansion. | Botwood |
| Brother Rice Junior High | AnimationNL | The program will help students engage in computer animation, website development, and a training workshop. | St. John's |
| College of the North Atlantic- Clarenville Campus | CNA Innovation Challenge | College of the North Atlantic, Clarenville campus, will host an Innovation Challenge. Students will be challenged to compete individually or as a team to create a product or service that they can market while in school or after they graduate. | Pan-Provincial |
| Community Youth Network, Southern Avalon | The News Room | Funding will support youth obtaining the necessary equipment and skills to produce a bi-monthly news broadcast for the Southern Avalon Region. | Cape Broyle |
| Elwood High School | Elwood Envirothon: Team Tuckamore | Funding will support youth participation in the science based environmental competition, North American Envirothon, in Springfield, Missouri. | Deer Lake |
| Esteem Women Inc. | Powerful Innovation Conference & Presentations | Esteem Women aims to enhance students learning through projects that inspire and challenge Grade 9-12 girls in science, technology engineering and math. | St. Anthony |
| First Technology Association | First Lego League | Funding will support the Expansion of First Lego League across Newfoundland and Labrador and encourage participation from schools and youth in rural areas. | Pan-Provincial |
| Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University | 4th Annual Marine Institute Model Boat Race | The competition will challenge students to apply the basic principles of physics and mathematics to the design and operation of marine vehicles. | Pan-Provincial |
| Frank Roberts Junior High | Code is Cool at Frank Roberts Junior High | This project will provide an opportunity for youth to learn computer programming/coding. | Conception Bay South |
| Hazelwood Elementary | Environmentally Engaging Innovative Youth (EEIY) Project | This project will see the construction of an environmental classroom. This will foster an innovative and creative learning style through the use of science curriculum. | St. John's |
| Heritage Collegiate | Heritage Robotics 2015 MATE Competition | Students in Grades 10-12 will design, develop and construct a remotely operated vehicle capable of carrying out tasks of the MATE ROV competition. | Lethbridge |
| Holy Spirit High School | Shark Ecology Project | In partnership with O'Donel High School and Queen Elizabeth Regional High School, Holy Spirit High will design activities that will teach outcomes from ES 3205. Lessons will take place in the classroom, laboratories, and on a floating classroom aboard the MV Coastal Explorer. | Conception Bay South |
| Holy Trinity High School | Agriculture to Aquaponics: A Next Generation Project | The project will involve three integrated and scaffolded projects in agriculture, aquaponics and robotics that develop next generation skills in designing and engineering a closed model aquaponics system. | Torbay |
| Immaculate Heart of Mary School | Western Region FLL Robotics Invitational Competition | The Western FLL Robotics Invitational Competition is a one-day event that will feature team competitions. | Corner Brook |
| J.J. Curling Elementary | Space Camp 2016 | Grade 6 students will attend space camp at the Cosmodome, Lavel, Quebec for five days of activities including use of simulators, and participation in classroom activities and space experiments. | Corner Brook |
| James Hornell Boys & Girls Club | Science & Technology Youth Escapade 2015 | Funding will support the development of a Science and Technology Program. | Buchans |
| Macdonald Drive Elementary | Code MDE | The project will offer a computer programming after-school program to elementary students. | St. John's |
| Manuels River Hibernia Interpretation Centre | Manuels River Teen Nights | Funding will support starting a new series of youth evenings at the Manuels River Hibernia Interpretation Centre, based on to the success of past teen nights. | Conception Bay South |
| Memorial Baja | Baja SAE Competition | Funding will support student�s ability to fabricate a car for the 2016 Baja SAE competition. | St. John's |
| Morris Academy | CODING: Teaching a New Literacy | The project will focus on computational thinking strategies to enhance critical thinking, communication, creativity, and collaboration within students. | Mount Pearl |
| Mount Pearl Intermediate | 21st Century Learning with Assistive Technology- Snoezelen Therapy | Funding will support the design, development and implementation of a Snoezelen Room, providing students in the community with the opportunity to use assistive technology. | Mount Pearl |
| NL Federation of Agriculture | Agri-Career Expo | The project will involve a one day agri-career exposition in St. John's. The Expo will focus on Grades 7-9 from the Avalon Peninsula. The expo will focus on science and technology in fields such as aquaponics, research and development, soil and plant, animal, crop, agriculture and food, and dairy and chicken farming. | Pan-Provincial |
| O'Donel High School | Coastal Oceans Applied Science & Technology (COAST) project | The continuation and expansion of the COAST (Coastal Oceans Applied Science & Technology) project. The project will promote the development of advanced skills used in industrial and growth sectors. | Mount Pearl |
| Qalipu Mi'Kmaq First Nation Band | Qalipu Innovation Forum | Funding will support the expansion of the 2016 Qalipu Mawlo'mi to include youth participation and an additional day for a youth forum. | Corner Brook |
| Riverside Elementary School | Engineering Technology to Develop Student Leadership | The project will encourage participation of Grade 6 students in an After School Engineering Group. | Clarenville |
| St. Bernard's Elementary | Growing Minds, Developing Worlds | Through the use of CODE and Scratch programming lessons, students in grades one and two will use technology to enhance their learning in science and math. | Witless Bay |
| St. John's Aquarium Inc. (Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium) | Marine Discovery Lab and Coast to Coast Classroom | The Petty Harbour Mini Aquarium will develop a new Marine Discovery Lab, as well as pilot a new Coast to Coast classroom project in the fall of 2015. This hands-on, marine educational program will offer youth the chance to learn about local marine life and develop creative solutions to sustainability issues. | Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove & Pan-Provincial |
| St. Lawrence Community Youth Network | Technology for Youth | The project will provide youth with access to technology for research. Equipment will also be used to assist students with learning disabilities. | St. Lawrence |
| St. Lewis Academy | SLA Savvy Scientist | The project will be an after-school based initiative designed to foster an appreciation of science, technology and engineering within youth. | St. Lewis |
| St. Mark's School | St. Mark's ROV Project | St. Mark's School will engage its younger students in ROV activities. The school will upgrade ROV equipment and develop tasks for elementary students to operate ROV's. | King's Cove |
| St. Peter's Elementary | Linking Literacy, Science and Technology | Funding will support exposing students to experiences using technology to build literacy skills and explore primary scientific concepts. | Mount Pearl |
| St. Peter's Junior High School | STEAMing Our Way to Literacy Achievement | Funding will support the enhancement of the current action plan to initiate a reading program for Grade 7 students, as well as the IXL program for Mathematics. | Mount Pearl |
| Topsail Elementary | S.T.A.R. Resource Centre Project | The project will involve the creation of a STEM (Science, Technology, Arithmetic, and Reading) Lab where STEM outcomes in Science and Math are the focus. | Conception Bay South |
| Upper Gullies Elementary | UGE Science and Technology Learning Partnership Project | The project will provide science, engineering and technology learning opportunities by engaging students in locally based field trips; interacting with guest speakers; and engaging students in technology projects to record, present and promote their activities. | Conception Bay South |
| Women in Resource Development Corporation | Tech Tours for Girls | The Educational Resource Centre of WRDC will organize and facilitate a two day technology based career exploration session for girls in Grades 9-12. | Pan-Provincial |
| Women in Science and Engineering Newfoundland and Labrador (WISE NL) | Student Summer Employment Program | The WISE NL Student Summer Employment program will provide young women in Grade 11 (Grades 10 & 11 in Labrador) with a unique summer experience working as research assistants with leading scientists and researchers across the province. | Pan-Provincial |
2015 06 25 11:20 a.m.