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REACH-AHEAD OPPORTUNITIES AND CLUBS
While part of the BCSP, students are provided with ample opportunities to get involved with clubs and "reach-ahead" opportunities and lots more. There are seminars, field trips, rotary exchanges, contests, post-secondary workshops and so much more. Take a look below for more details on just some of the things that students can take advantage of and have taken advantage of in the past.
WEBINARS AND GUEST SPEAKERS
WEBINARS AND GUEST SPEAKERS
Grace McKenna - alumnust of the BCSP (grade year 2020), currently in her 4th year of Software Engineering at McMaster University, employed by the RCMP working in cybersecurity
Jacob Lambert - alumnust of the BCSP (grad year 2020), currently in his 4th year of Computer Engineering at Queen's University, worked at AMD in Markham during co-op.
Dr. Wendy Powley, Queen's U - Dr. Powley is an associate professor at Queen's, who works in computer Science education, teaching computer progrmming at Queen's, while doing outreach and encouraging more women to pursue education towards a career in technology. She is the founder and co-ordinator of a group called QWIC - listed below.
Colin Breck, Sr. Staff Engineer at Tesla - a Bayridge graduate (and Mr. Swaine's lifelong friend), currently working in California for a little outfit called Tesla. You can read his blog here, but be warned that it's highly technical in places.
QWIC - The Queen's Women in Computing group has been in numerous times and their students talk, mainly to young female students, about how they got there, where they're going and give advice.
Dr. Josh Marshall, Queen's U - Dr. Marshall works at Queen's, heavily involved with Ingenuity Labs and automation. In October 2021, BCSP students were invited to attend their AI and Robotics Symposium, which is heavily touted in the industry. In May 2022, we went to the lab to see all of the amazing robots and AI and more! We're pretty sure it was real people hosting us...
Prof. Andrea Ruskin, St. Lawrence College - Professor Ruskin works as a coordinator in the graphics design area and BCSP students have been to St. Lawrence multiple times for workshops on web design and Javascript.
Prof. Jason Millar, uOttawa - gave a fantastic webinar in 2020 about the ethics of the COVID tracing app, his position which combines computers and ethics, and more!
Dr. Carmen Bruni, uWaterloo - Dr. Bruni came all the way from Waterloo to talk about problem solving and the value of outside the box thinking.
Queen's Engineering Outreach - Graduate student Christopher Gerwin came in and ran sessions on Python, micro::bit, and goal-setting among other things.
Dr. Scott Compeau, Queen's U - Dr. Compeau runs engineering outreach at Queen's and he has been in to Bayridge multiple times to run workshops on Python, Arduino, Google Colabs and more.
Leif Firth, Software Engineer - Leif is a fascinating person who has worked as a professional gamer AND a professional game programmer. When he spoke to our class, he worked at Microsoft on the XBOX Cloud project.
Prof. Gilbert Ardez, uOttawa - gave a fantastic webinar in 2020 about how computer science and solar technology are linked!
Queen's Women in Computing representatives (middle, arms up) and Prof. Wendy Powley in for a talk with young women at BSS in 2019!
BCSP COMPUTERS CLUB
BCSP COMPUTERS CLUB
As part of the BCSP, students meet every 2 weeks in room 140 to find out what is going on in the world of Bayridge computer science. Students get together and talk about coding, experience guest speakers, sign up for field trips and more!
The club is filled with enthusiastic students who enjoy topics like Minecraft coding (and playing!), Greenfoot game creation in Java, Cybersecurity and Virtual Battlebots! Currently, there are 80+ students involved and we are always looking to add more members!
Leon's Centre Done in Minecraft by Will Jenkins, 2021.
CYBERSECURITY
CYBERSECURITY
BSS has a very active Cybersecurity Team who meets regularly to learn about "hacking". For good, of course!
At BSS, we take advantage of the CanHack program - run by an amazing team of cybersecurity specialists from the University of Ryerson. With backing from the Royal Bank of Canada and the DMZ at Ryerson, this series of workshops educates students about topics in cybersecurity, as they work towards certifications in the field. Students also play "capture the flag" games to practice applying their skills and further their learning.
Learning about cybersecurity and ethical hacking couldn't be more fun! Through this Unity-created game, students can go on a quest and try to figure out the secrets hidden in this building they're trapped in. They use and gain computer knowledge, trying to find digital flags that can only be found by understanding topics in cybersecurity!
Hack The Box - A Massive Hacking Playground
Hack the box is an industry standard platform that teaches the ins and outs of hacking (for good). Once you complete the Hack The Box lessons you instantly have industry skills that make you hireable!!!
LIVE STREAMING CLUB
LIVE STREAMING CLUB
COVID is no fun for anyone, but it DID allow some superstars from the gaming and streaming world to bring their talents to the Bayridge live-streaming scene! We now have a group of people working to live-stream the Bayridge gym during athletic events, working to make it better and better including camera-work, broadcasting, graphics, advertisements and more. Check it out on our Bayridge Blazers YouTube channel!!!
Trace and Spencer covering the EOSSAA Girls Hockey finals.
Caleb, Jacob, and Ryus covering the KASSAA volleyball finals at St. Lawrence College
CONTESTS AND CHALLENGES
CONTESTS AND CHALLENGES
This computer challenge, designed and run by the Centre for Engineering Math and Computers at the University of Waterloo, is an introductory competition designed for students all the way from grade 5 to grade 10. Students must solve problem-solving type questions to gain points and they have 45 minutes to get it done online. In 2019, Bayridge SS set a board record, having 81 students participate. In 2020, despite the COVID pandemic, Bayridge continues to lead the way as our feeder schools are now involved, with over 200 students taking part!
Writing the BCC in 2024. So many, we had to write in shifts!!!
The Canadian Computing Competition (CCC) is a fun challenge for secondary school students with an interest in programming. It is an opportunity for students to test their ability in designing, understanding and implementing algorithms.
In 2020, Bayridge had 18 students participate in the challenge, which is often used by students on resumes and applications to post-secondary schools.
In 2023, that number climbed up to 37! We expect even more in 2024.
Writing the CCC in 2020 (just before COVID craziness).
The ECOO programming competition is sponsored and run by Queen's Computing. It is a team competition where a team of four programmers must race to solve complex, multi-faceted problems using computer code. Bayridge has participated for the past four years now, winning gold in the past two! Winners of the regional competition move on to the East Regionals, and then ultimately to provincials.
Queen's ECOO Area Champs 2019!
Queen's ECOO Crew 2019.
In 2023, Mr. Swaine of Bayridge and Mr. Ten Tee Quen of St. Theresa decided to have a "home and home" programming competition. First, schools went to St. Theresa and participated in teams of 4, attempting to solve challenging computer science problems. After that, it was off to Bayridge to repeat the process. Bayridge took silver at both events in 2023 and we can't wait to do it again in 2024!!!
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
Kingston Science Rendezvous
Kingston Science Rendezvous
In 2023, the Bayridge Computer Specialist Program was invited to attend Kingston Science Rendezvous (the largest science fair in all of Canada). It was a massive success as our booths were some of the most popular on the day, with young children lining up to play the video games that our students made, sometimes staying longer than their parents wanted them to! :)
We did it again in 2024 and it went just as well, so of course we're ready to go in 2025 again!!! It is an amazing experience for the BSS students who are invited to present, as they get to bring their creations out into the real world and see how their programs can make people happy!
Check out the page on KSR for more.
BSS Students Liam, Ti, Jaxson and Marisa at a seminar in Downtown Ottawa
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Nepean Kanata and a fantastic leader named Paul Elsley, this amazing opportunity sends local students to Ottawa where they get to learn all about the "high tech" scene, visiting businesses and attending talks by leaders in the field. In 2019, students got to visit EA Sports, Google, the University of Ottawa and Algonquin College, just to name a few. This week-long adventure involves boarding with Rotary families in Ottawa and taking some time away from school to do so. Quite the experience!!!
In 2021, students were taken to Ottawa again, via a virtual experience this time!
In 2024, the experience was in-person again and Clarke, Gabe, Jessi, and Maxwell were lucky enough to spend 4 days in Ottawa, learning about and experiencing the tech sector in Ottawa!
BSS Students Liam, Ti, Jaxson and Marisa at a seminar in Downtown Ottawa
Local Field Trips
Local Field Trips
Classes and clubs have visited many local organizations, educational institutions and businesses including Queen's University (computer science, business, neuroscience), St. Lawrence College (Innovation Hub) and more. We continue to look for partnerships in the community and the opportunity to see computer science in action in the community. The pictures below are from the Queen's University Computer Science Open House in 2018 and St. Lawrence College's Innovation Hub in 2019.
Queen's Computer Science Open House 2018
St. Lawrence College Innovation Hub in 2019 for a tutorial in JavaScript.
Community Outreach and Mentoring
Community Outreach and Mentoring
Bayridge SS has been a leader in elementary school outreach for a number of years now. We have hosted classes from Bayridge PS, Truedell PS, Lancaster DPS, Cat Woods PS, Sinclair PS and Calvin Park PS. Our high school students have run many "Hour of Code" activities, introducing young students to coding through game play, done multi-part tutorials on web design and much much more. We have worked with kids as young as grade 1 all the way up to grade 8. Bayridge SS is always thrilled to give back and spark an interest with our feeder schools!!!
In 2022, students in the BCSP were able to get 600+ elementary students to participate in the Beaver Computing Challenge. Our BSS students went out to schools and ran practice contests, helping elementary kids to experience what computer science is all about!
These are pics of all of the amazing BSS students who volunteered their time in classrooms around Kingston!
Co-op Opportunities (tied into the SHSM)
Co-op Opportunities (tied into the SHSM)
As part of our specialized program, we are always looking for opportunities for our students to get out into the "real world" where they can gain job experience while working towards their certification. We have already had two Bayridge students awarded the coveting Queen's Computing Internship and we hope to add more opportunities for students soon! In the summer of 2021, we also had two students working at the Centre for Advanced Computing at Queen's as well! We also had one student working for a local company developing a customer and parts database.
Have a look at some of the other things our students have done for their co-op experiences!
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