365 Days of RED Academy Toronto — Part 2 of 5
The second of a five part story about 25+ students, 40+ real world projects, and 1 Global Pandemic over 365 days.
If you are just tuning in and want to read part one click this, it will provide some context as to why I’m telling this story. If you want to skip ahead, feel free to keep reading — you can always catch up later.
Spring Q2
This was my first cohort on my own. I had the chance to culminate all my experiences so far and impart some wisdom upon my first class. I had taught for a few years, but only in more traditional settings. This cohort I had the pleasure of teaching and working with Sahil, Jaimie, Celia, Paniz and Kriti. Click their names to check out their work. It was a small classroom, but we had big ideas. This group was incredibly diverse, from photographers to footwear designers, a public relations specialist to advertising experts, even a Ph.D in behaviour science — we were an eclectic bunch. We had fun, we went out, we did karaoke and we even had some lessons over at Stackt Market. We worked a lot, but we also learned and had a ton of fun.
I had the chance to revise the curriculum and introduce some new software like Adobe XD, Miro, and Milanote. I even had the opportunity to introduce some Front-End Development to the course and officially added it to the curriculum. I couldn’t stress consistency and perseverance enough and most of my students ended up finding awesome work in the coming months at some really cool companies like Loblaws Digital, Canadian Tire, Winterlight Labs and Akendi.
This was a large cohort and we got the opportunity to work with some amazing community partners. We worked with great local companies like 1000 Towns of Canada, a database of Canadian small towns, and Olive & Elliot, an initiative that is continuously working to bring the textile industry back to Canada. We had the pleasure to meet and work with Mike Stroh, the Founder & Director of Starts with Me, a consultancy specializing in k-12 education and workplace mental health, and our team even worked remotely with a unique Indigenous company in the Yukon. We were introduced to Kym Rempel, founder of Anto Yukon, an artist that creates small batch artisanal 100% natural handmade soap inspired by the natural landscapes of Canada.
We turned simple sketches and user-flows into high fidelity prototypes with Sketch, Figma & Adobe XD to create exceptional concepts and created new features for apps like TwoPlugs, a service marketplace where users buy & sell services with a unique cryptocurrency. We designed apps for companies like Senior Care Connect, a platform where families can search and engage with pre-screened caregivers for their aging loved ones. We worked on ideas for local entrepreneurs to create products like Porrada BJJ, a conceptual application to enhance a fighters training regime by providing easy access to techniques and movements with exclusive video content. We even got into security with an application concept for JM Security Canada. We also created Hoodhub to help neighbours communicate urgent information without compromising their sense of privacy.
We worked with local businesses like RingsideMD, a full-service medical clinic offering walk-ins, general practitioners, and family practice care and EduTravel, a wholly Canadian-owned and operated tour provider founded on the concept of experiential learning. We even got to work on some interesting progressive web applications for companies like Wishplay, which uses virtual reality so patients of all ages can experience the world beyond their illness or circumstance as well as Binqit, a unique smart job filtering and applicant vetting technology, which connects job seekers and businesses together.
Continue this story next week for part three of five, which will be linked here shortly. If you want to go back and catch up, check out part one of five here.
