My first experience with Boys & Girls Club of Canada (BGCC) happened when I was in high school – and what I had learned that summer never left me. Volunteering with the East Scarborough club was just the start of my own educational journey on learning how critical and impactful organizations such as BGCC can be for certain communities – specifically the young people that will shape it’s future. This past year, more than 15 years later – I was reunited with the organization through an exciting project.
CanCode, a $50-million federal program that gives students from kindergarten to grade 12 the opportunity to learn coding and other digital skills granted Boys & Girls Club of Canada with the financial support to develop Kid Tech Nation. We were tasked with developing an 8-week learning experience for youth 7 to 12 years old that would be delivered after-school across Canada.
20 Clubs from coast to coast had been selected to pilot Kid Tech Nation over the next year to the youth in their communities.
In partnership with Corus Entertainment, Kid Tech Nation teaches digital literacy through a learning experience that is collaborative, hands-on, beginner-friendly and fun. Aside from computational thinking, we designed an experience that will teach youth how to problem solve, think critically, collaborate with others and exercise their creative and artistic muscles.
We also designed Kid Tech Nation training resources including a 3-day training experience for Boys & Girls Club staff members. In March 2018, staff representing the 20 clubs travelled to Toronto to join us at our headquarters for an intensive, hands-on and collaborative educator learning experience. We equipped these staff members with the tools and knowledge to be able to plan and implement Kid Tech Nation in their respective communities – with some scheduled to begin as early as April 2018.
We want to help as many Canadians as we can develop self-efficacy with technology beyond being a consumer of its applications across all sectors – in to being creators. Technology is going to continue being a powerful tool that drives innovation across all sectors. The future is in the hands of our youth.
The way I see it, Boys & Girls Club staff members are real-life superheroes for many youth in this country. We look forward to continuing to support Boys & Girls Club of Canada – and their communities – through their technology education learning journey.
As part of our efforts to support educators – starting this Summer season, we will be rolling out TeacherCon across Canada, a series of multi-day educator training experiences for in-school educators at no cost. Designed for educators with little to no-technical background, we will be introducing programming concepts, teaching tools and platforms and tips and tricks that can be applied in the classroom for K-12 learners.
If you want to be made aware the moment we’re ready to share information about our cross-Canada TeacherCon tour, be sure to join our mailing list.
About Boys & Girls Club
Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada (BGCC) is a national, nonprofit organization that supports local Boys and Girls Clubs with programs for physical activity, healthy living, learning, job training, leadership, and creative expression. With locations in small and large cities, and rural and Indigenous communities, Boys and Girls Clubs provide services to young people during critical out-of-school hours.
About Corus Entertainment
Corus is a leading media and content company that creates and delivers high quality brands and content for audiences around the world. Corus’ brands deliver compelling, engaging, interactive and informative content to millions of people every day. Corus’ youth brands include YTV and Nickelodeon Canada.