We're building a bridge
to our shared future.

Junior Achievement is excited to partner with Torusoft to offer Company Program Achievers access to a library of online courses covering topics ranging from mobile app development, to design and development for the web. By integrating the Digital Bridge Scholarship with Company Program, Company Program VPs of Digital Technology will be able to develop the skills they need to market their product or service with a competitive edge. This self-directed learning will be supported by a mentor or advisor to help guide them as they learn new content, and it is that link between mentor and student that JA feels provides the best opportunity accelerated learning.

Company Program is a student venture in entrepreneurship. The program improves employability, workforce readiness and awareness of new career opportunities. Students enhance their critical-thinking, presentation and leadership skills, while developing an appreciation of entrepreneurial qualities and a greater understanding of personal responsibility.

Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia provides hands-on experiential learning in the classroom and through extra-curricular activities. Programs focus on three educational pillars: financial literacy, workplace readiness, and entrepreneurship. JA recruits volunteers from the business community to collaborate on the delivery of programs, which exposes students to real world business perspectives and ideas.

 

How does it work?

  • Funding

    The private sector funds seats by making tax-deductible donations to Junior Achievement of Nova Scotia. Each seat funds 6 months of subsidized online learning on a variety of topics in ICT.

  • Placement

    Students are nominated by teachers or JA volunteers, who also act as their mentors. Mentors meet regularly with the student to guide their learning, provide feedback and support.

  • Delivery

    Students are free to choose whatever topic they wish to study, and build whatever they want to build. Learning is conducted online and monitored on an ongoing basis by a mentor.

Who's Eligible?

Any secondary school student in Nova Scotia is eligible to receive the Digital Bridge Scholarship. Students must be nominated by a teacher or Junior Achievement volunteer, who can commit to acting as their mentor for the duration of the 6 month term.
Digital Bridge Scholars will learn a new medium to build ideas, invent, innovate, and express themselves.

We encourage teachers to identify and nominate students that they believe should be recipients. Tinkerers, builders, creatives and the naturally curious are all great candidates. If you know a student who fits the bill, and you believe they would benefit from the Bridge Scholarship, nominate them!

As an extension of Junior Achievement’s programming, the Digital Bridge Scholarship is actively offered to VPs of Digital Technology involved in the Company Program, as well as alumni of previous years’ companies.

What can you learn?

  • Practical Skills
    • How to make iPhone & Android apps
    • How to build websites & web applications
    • Techniques for data visualization & analysis
    • User interface design
    • Software versioning
  • Languages & Frameworks
    • HTML & CSS
    • Javascript, jQuery and Node.js
    • Ruby and Rails
    • Objective-C
    • AngularJS, Ember.js and Backbone.js
    Breadth and Depth of Topics
    • Fundamentals of web design
    • Real-time web app
      development
    • Mapping techniques
    • API integrations
    • Databases & storage
      techniques
    • Insights from world-class companies
    • Responsive design
    • Server configuration
    • Web application deployment
    • Location-aware apps
    • Command-line tools

Even more information

  • How can my child receive this scholarship?

    Students must be nominated by a Nova Scotian teacher, or a volunteer with Junior Achievement Nova Scotia, who will act as their mentor throughout the 6-month term.

    Mentors must commit to meeting regularly with students they nominate, checking on their progress, and providing guidance as students pursue their online learning.

    If your child would like to recieve the scholarship, but cannot find a teacher to nominate him or her, and Junior Achievement has no presence in his or her school, contact us and we will work to put a JA volunteer in place.

  • Is there a minimum age requirement?

    Yes. Students need to be 13 years of age or older in order to access the online learning library provided by Code School.

  • Why did you select Code School for the online learning?

    • It's got robust administrative and reporting features for teams, allowing the program managers to add or remove students, check on progress and report meaningful results to stakeholders.
    • It's got an ever-expanding library of high quality, cohesive and coherent online educational resources, at an extremely affordable price.
    • CodeSchool has done an excellent job sequencing their instruction in a sensible way that builds on itself. Think of Khan Academy's tree of knowledge, but with way more branches and choices for ICT.
    • The interactive challenges are unparalleled in terms of feedback and ease of use. This isn't just watching a video and then following instructions - questions are well-framed and activities are well-paced.
    • There's lots of choice, as well as breadth and depth. CodeSchool doesn't lock you into a single language or platform. Currently, you can learn Javascript, Ruby, Objective C, HTML + CSS, version control systems, client and server-side application development, and on and on.

  • If there aren’t enough funded seats, how do you determine which students receive the scholarship?

    Seats are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis. We recieve nominations in order, and assign each student to a seat as funding becomes available.

  • What are you doing to protect students' privacy?

    Each student is issued a dedicated email address for the duration of their 6-month term, and all correspondence with the online learning provider will be handled through this address. All data are stored on local servers provided by Torusoft, so no student data is stored outside the province.