For the second year in a row, a group of York Region District School Board students led a successful hackathon giving students an opportunity to problem solve and learn from industry experts.
The hackathon gave students an opportunity to work in teams to develop a technological solution to a problem. The event lasted 28 hours straight, and featured workshops from industry experts on topics such as web development, Application Programming Interface (API), cyber security and entrepreneurship. More than 350 students participated from across York Region, an increase from last year.
“The goal of the competition is to create a welcoming and exciting hackathon experience for high school students of all strengths and skill levels. They do not need a solid programming background to participate in YRHacks. As long as they have a passion for learning, we will provide all of the necessary support through mentors, talks and workshops. I am grateful that YRHacks was able to do so this year,” said Benny Wu, Event Co-Organizer and Grade 12 student at Pierre Elliott Trudeau H.S.
“After such a positive response to last year’s event, we had to continue!” said Event Co-Organizer Trinity Yip. Yip is in her second year as an executive with the event and a Grade 12 student at Richmond Green S.S.. “Just like last year, we are mainly student-led. Our team of 14 student executives worked so hard throughout the year to reach out to community partners, develop and communicate logistics to staff and community partners, market through our website and Instagram, and create and analyze the budget.”
Fourteen students from secondary schools across the Board were members of the executive team, with their duties being split into four sub-teams including: logistics, finance, marketing and outreach. Students also organized a variety of prizes.
“Aside from the overall first, second and third place prizes, we hosted categories for Best Bot/AI, Best Game, Best Use of API (Application Programming Interface), Best Web App, Best Use of Any Database, Best Pitch and Best UI (User Interface)” explained Event Co-Organizer Claire Wang, a Grade 12 student at Bayview S.S..
“Some of us helped host the first-ever YRHacks in 2021, while others applied to be part of the executive team after having participated in the hackathon and seeing its incredible success the year before,” explained Event Co-Organizer Jennifer Yu, a Grade 10 student at Maple H.S.
York Region District School Board is the third largest school district in Ontario with over 125,000 students in 180 elementary schools and 33 secondary schools. York Region students consistently perform above average in provincial testing and the Board is one of the top achievers in Ontario. For more information about the York Region District School Board, please visit the Boardwebsiteand follow YRDSB onTwitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
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For more information, contact:
Corporate Communications
Communications@yrdsb.ca