City of Kingston and BGC South East celebrate young innovators at Jr. Mayor’s Innovation Challenge Showcase

Yesterday, the City of Kingston and BGC South East proudly celebrated the next generation of community leaders and innovators at the final showcase of the second annual Jr. Mayor’s Innovation Challenge. After 12 weeks of collaboration, creativity and hands-on problem solving, local youth presented their bold ideas to a panel of judges, City officials, industry professionals and proud family members.

Held at the Club’s STEM & Robotics Centre at the Frontenac Mall, and inspired by the Mayor’s Innovation Challenge, which has been running for nine years for post-secondary students, the showcase highlighted the incredible imagination and determination of participants aged 10 to 14 as they tackled real-world challenges.

“The Jr. Mayor’s Innovation Challenge continues to showcase the incredible talent, passion, and leadership of Kingston’s youth,” said Mayor Bryan Paterson. “These students are not only thinking critically about challenges in our community - but they are also creating practical and inspiring solutions for the future. Congratulations to all participants and especially this year’s winning teams.”

Throughout the evening, participants pitched their ideas in front of a live audience, answered judges’ questions, and celebrated the culmination of months of teamwork and innovation. To help fuel the excitement, J.E. Agnew Food Services Ltd. generously provided Tim Hortons refreshments and snacks for youth, mentors, families and guests during the pitch event.

“We are incredibly inspired by the curiosity and energy these young innovators bring,” said Bruna Guarino Moraes, Associate Director of STEM and Strategic Initiatives at BGC South East. “At the Club, we offer a variety of STEM and innovation programs with experiential learning opportunities that build confidence, creativity, and practical skills through robotics, coding, engineering, digital literacy, and entrepreneurship, benefitting over 2,000 youth annually. The Jr. Mayor’s Innovation Challenge is a wonderful example of how youth can apply those skills to real-world challenges, think big, and see how their ideas can positively shape their community. We are grateful for our ongoing partnership with the City of Kingston in making experiences like this possible.”

Participants in the Jr. Mayor’s Innovation Challenge worked alongside engineers, educators and mentors to move through the engineering design process - from identifying local problems to building prototypes and developing final presentations. Along the way, they strengthened skills in leadership, communication, collaboration, entrepreneurship and critical thinking.

The City of Kingston and BGC South East thank all participating youth, mentors, volunteers, judges and community partners for making this year’s program another outstanding success.

As the audience cheered on the final presentations and students celebrated with snacks and smiles, one thing was clear: Kingston’s future is in very capable hands.