Community Initiatives & Outreach

Virtual Workshops

Venture Academy is back again (for our 31st year!) with another exciting fleet of workshops to choose from for your school! Due to current times, we have transitioned our travelling workshops to be delivered virtually. The workshops are still delivered free of charge to schools, and have been created by engineering students. All workshops are delivered as pre-recorded videos that have the flexibility to be completed in a virtual or in-person classroom setting. All of the workshops have been created to require minimal materials, as outlined in the video descriptions, and are complete video tutorials with no additional teaching resources required by teachers.

Elementary Virtual Workshops

Requires Teacher registration.

Science Workshops K-8

Math Workshops K-8

High School Virtual Workshops

Science Workshops 9-12

Math Workshops 9-12

Girl Initiatives

One of our biggest initiatives are girls events. These events take place during different parts of the year and reach a wide range of ages. All programming is free, and offer a diverse set of challenges and opportunities for girls to experience!

Special Events and Conferences

Go ENG Girl (Gr.7 to 10)

Go CODE Girl (Gr.7 to 10)

Girl Guides Badge Day

Indigenous Outreach (InSTEM)

InSTEM Conference

The Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University, in partnership with Actua and Indigenous Student Services, will be a hosting full day conference at McMaster University to engage Indigenous adolescents in engineering and science.

About

The event will feature a wide array of science and engineering based activities. The goal of this conference is to expose youth to the enormous opportunities present in the fields of science and engineering and the tremendous impact that Indigenous youth in particular can have on creating a better future for everyone.

Leaders in Training Program

APPLY TODAY

Venture Academy is proud to announce that for our 2023 Summer Camp we will be offering Leaders in Training (LIT) Program to students entering Grades 9 to 12 in September 2023

The LIT program will give 60 high school students the opportunity to achieve their volunteer hours with a not-for-profit organization, which is a graduation requirement for Ontario High Schools. The time commitment is such that all LIT students will be required to attend a mandatory training day on June 17th, 2023 and volunteer daily for one of the sessions in the month of July or August.

What will you gain from being a Leader in Training (LiT)? Certificate of participation for the training conference Experience working with a team Complete all your community hours Letter of reference

This Program aims to develop interpersonal, STEM, and leadership skills for LIT students under the guidance of Venture Academy and Alumni Relations staff members. This is a developmental program that aims to give high school students leadership opportunities that promote STEM education in alignment with McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering goals. LIT students will assist Venture Academy Instructor’s, who are also undergraduate engineering students. They will support one of our four age groups in live camp sessions for students in grade 3/4, 5/6, or 7/8/9, working virtually with students to help them complete hands-on STEM activities. LIT students are unable to volunteer for our Grade 9-12 stream as they fall in the same age range.

Application deadline: Sunday April 16, 2023 at 11:59pm

Months to Volunteer

Lit’s must choose one month to volunteer.

Month 1

Session 1: July 4 – July 21, 2023

Month 2

Session 2: July 24 – August 4, August 14-18, 2023

Summer Highlights

Conference Agenda Conference Agenda

Partnerships

Canadian companies support youth through STEM initiatives

GM Girls Camp

BlackBerry Camp

Community Initiatives

Our Outreach team is actively involved in various activities around the community in the school year !

Appleby College Summer Opportunity Fair

Appleby College Summer Opportunity Fair is an evening where students interact with the Outreach team to learn about the summer volunteer and learning experiences. Students are encouraged to ask questions about post-secondary opportunities at McMaster and how to start their learning journey.

BASEF Science Fair

Venture puts on an hour-long presentation/ show for the participants and visiting schools at the BASEF Science Fair conducted at Mohawk College, with a total of over 1,000 students. A Venture Academy camp bursary was also awarded to deserving participants for innovative projects.

Computer Science at Mac

Students from St. Joan of Arc visited McMaster University to learn what University life is like and to expand their knowledge of computer science and deepen their learning of programming.

Glenforest Xplore STEM Conference

The conference aims to inspire the next generation of students from grade 8 to 12 to pursue Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM) fields. The McMaster Youth program facilitates educational workshops with hands-on activities to encourage youth to pursue STEM careers

Hamilton Regional Indian Centre (HRIC)

Venture is partnered with the HRIC and hosts weekly science and engineering workshops and activities for the Akwe:go Program. Indigenous students from grades one to eight work on design challenges and insturctor challenges and insturctor-led activities to put their problem-solving and teamwork skills to the test!

Homeschooling @ Mac

Each year, Venture hosts 60 homeschooled students from grades three through twelve and leads them through science and engineering based activities.

Metamorphosis Conference

The Metamorphosis Girls STEM Conference was created to support girls at a critical time when they are likely to become disengaged with STEM. The Outreach team attends the conference to promote women within STEM fields and to provide support and encouragement to all attendees.

NYA:WEH Program

Venture Academy works with the NYA:WEH Program at Cathedral Catholic Secondary School to promote STEM through hands-on projects. This partnership works towards inspiring Indigenous high school students to pursue STEM through their classes and post-secondary education.

Take your Kids to Work Day

Every year we welcome grade nine students to McMaster campus to learn about Engineering at McMaster University. Students take part in a hands-on project to foster their interest in engineering and science careers.

TD STEM Girls Club

Girls in grades 4 to 6 have the opportunity to participate in a reoccurring club that focuses on all things STEM. It is completely free to participate and is sponsored by TD Canada

YMCA: Beyond the Bell Program

Venture is partnering with the YMCA after school programs to host workshops for students from grades one through eight. Students work on design challenges and instructor-led activities to put their problem-solving and teamwork skills to the test!