PENSIONNAT DU SAINT-NOM-DE-MARIE : Creating a mobile application for the benefit of the community
How can we help the community through a mobile application (an app)? This is the question that five students from Secondary 5 at Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie asked themselves as part of their participation in Défi Technovation (Technovation), an international program to develop technological and entrepreneurial skills among girls ages 10 to 18.
Thus, in 2015-2016, Maxime, Sandrine, Agnès, Aiyu, and Caroline developed the idea of an app to FutureNow aimed at putting alumnae of Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie into contact with current students of the school. The goal of the app was to create a network of links offering students the opportunity to consult with various professionals so as to help them explore different potential future professions.
Since the app would foster connections with former students from the school, the process would prove to be less intimidating for some students. For several months, the girls learned three computer languages in order to complete their project (HTML, CSS and JavaScript), in addition to developing a business plan and creating a prototype of the application.
This extracurricular project was carried out in English. Besides attending the different training sessions, including some at Google, each team was also accompanied by professionals working in businesses in Montreal. In the case of Pensionnat du Saint-Nom-de-Marie, it was the enterprise Breather which oversaw the students. Thanks to this mentoring, to their determination, their relentless work, their ideas and their convincing presentation, the members of the team won first prize for the Montreal finalists in the Défi Technovation. The students also had the opportunity to discuss their project on the CBC program La Sphère. Although the learning was not always easy and there were many obstacles, the girls emerged from this experience with a sense of accomplishment and pride.
