BrainStation Launches One-Of-A-Kind Youth Coding Program Starting This August

TORONTO, June 2, 2015 /CNW/ - BrainStation announced today the launch of BrainStation Academy 2015, a Canada-wide coding program for high school aged youth.  Running in Toronto, Vancouver, and Waterloo, and in partnership with AOL Canada, Deloitte Digital and Konrad Group, the program provides full scholarships to all 150 students in the program. BrainStation Academy will be a first of its kind coding and digital skills summer program for high school students across Canada.

"BrainStation Academy goes beyond teaching students to write lines of code. We are creating an in-class experience that imbues youth with a passion for technology", said Jason Field, founder of BrainStation. "Nothing is more exciting than seeing students evolve from consumers to creators of the digital space".

Beginning August 1st, 2015, selected scholarship applicants will have access to an innovative real-time curriculum led by experienced instructors and industry speakers. Over four intensive weekends, students will plan, test, build and launch websites that advocate for social causes important to their generation while building their digital literacy skills.

"Simplifying the Internet to unleash the world's greatest creators of culture and code is our mission as a company, a mission that is perfectly aligned with the BrainStation Academy program," said Joe Strolz, General Manager, AOL Canada. "Equipping a generation of digital natives to create through code is not just good business for the Technology industries, but it's also a catalyst that is fostering solutions for the societal challenges of the digital age."

"We are very excited about working with BrainStation Academy to help students build their technology and design skills for tomorrow", said Gordon Sandford, National Practice Leader of Deloitte Digital. "With this program, we want to empower the younger generation to be innovative and confident in their ability to lead the digital revolution—and fully realize the career opportunities in this field."

BrainStation currently offers part-time and full-time courses in business, design, and technology led by industry experts across Canada, including User Experience Design, and Introduction to Web Development (www.brainstation.io/courses/), which informs BrainStation Academy's curriculum.

"Canada is facing a significant, and growing, talent shortage in the areas of technology, and digital design.  We see this every day across our businesses" said Bill Konrad, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Konrad Group, a leading digital agency. "Konrad Group is supporting this program because we believe that in order to address this gap, digital education must start earlier, and be more in tune with the real requirements of industry"

The BrainStation Summer Code Academy begins August 1, 2015 and runs in Toronto, Waterloo and Vancouver. Full scholarships are awarded to all Canadian youth enrolled in high-school for fall 2015.

To apply or learn more about this opportunity, please visit www.brainstation.io/academy

About BrainStation
BrainStation is a progressive educational institution that is powering the next generation of creators. BrainStation's in-person, part-time and full-time courses and workshops combine hands-on, project based learning with online content and an adaptive curriculum that is architected by industry professionals in business, design and technology. For more information, visit www.brainstation.io

About AOL Canada
AOL (NYSE: AOL) is a media technology company with a mission to simplify the internet for consumers and creators by unleashing the world's best builders of culture and code.  With over 16 million monthly consumers of its premium brands, AOL is at the centre of disruption of how content is being produced, distributed, consumed and monetized by connecting publishers with advertisers on its global, programmatic content and advertising platforms. Recognized as the 2^nd Best Workplace in Canada by Great Places to Work, AOL's opportunity lies in shaping the future of the digitally connected world for decades to come.  Follow us on twitter @aolca

About Deloitte Digital
Deloitte Digital is a bold and innovative part of Deloitte. We are an agency and a consultancy. From strategy to delivery, Deloitte Digital combines cutting-edge creative with trusted business and technology experience to define and deliver digital solutions. Deloitte Digital creates digital experiences for the connected enterprise. From B2B, B2C, or B2E, Deloitte Digital delivers strategy, mobile, social, web, cloud and digital content management solutions that can help strengthen clients' brands and evolve their businesses. For more information, please visit www.deloittedigital.ca

About Konrad Group
Konrad Group is a leading technology firm with deep capabilities in both the enterprise and consumer technology spaces. Konrad Group provides strategy, design, development and application management services, with an emphasis on building compelling user experiences. Their Design-Driven Technology™ approach has delivered solutions in use by over 50 million people in 50 countries around the globe.  For more information, visit www.konradgroup.com

SOURCE BrainStation

Media Contacts: Danielle Thé, BrainStation, Manager, BrainStation Academy, 416-720-9055, [email protected]; Jo Vos, Konrad Group, Director, Marketing, 416-551-3684 ext. 118, [email protected]; Kira LeBlanc, AOL Canada, Manager, Marketing and Communications, [email protected]; Jeannie Tsang, Deloitte, Public Relations Manager, [email protected]