CEWA developing Australia’s innovators of the future
20 September 2018
CEWA student start-ups were recently recognised at a national level, with a team from Sacred Heart College runners up at the recent National iAwards in Melbourne .
The Passion Your Purpose app,developed by year nine students Jack Bennett, Anthony Bulich, Alexandra Groves and Tyler Williams, is aimed at teenagers and enables users to find their true purpose in life by helping them discover their passions.
The choices available through Passion Your Purpose enable young people experiencing mental health issues to seek an alternative “fix” by connecting with peers who have similar positive passions in life, whether they be swimming, watching movies or shared tastes in music.
The team won $10,000 in Amazon services to help them make their app a reality.
Sacred Heart and other CEWA schools havebeen taking part in the CEWA Year 10 Entrepreneurship Program, an initiative that takes engaging collaborative learning to the next level through exploration, discovery, and creativity.
The 18-week program engages students utilising innovation and brings Silicon Valley methodologies and industry mentors into the classroom.
CEWA VET Coordinator Genevie Baker said feedback from students, facilitating teachers and parents had been extremely positive.
“The entrepreneurship program taps into our incredible students’ critical and creative thinking skills and encourages them to work collaboratively with their peers using 21 Century learning skills to identify and provide solutions to real-life problems,” she said.
“Students’ intrinsic motivation and passion for learning are ignited as they engage in their start up concept, develop a brand, and determine marketing strategies and costings.”
At the Semester One finals hosted at Sacred Heart College, four CEWA teams competed against other schools and pitched their business concepts to a panel of judges.
Alongside Passion Your Purpose were two other apps from Sacred Heart, Aust-Trail-ia and Quick Chef, and BYOD from Seton Catholic College.
The Aus-Trail-ia team, who developed an app that caters for travelling families by providing parents and kids easy access to local information, games and activities, won the final and competed in the iAwards alongside Passion Your Purpose.
