BCIS's flagship academic program, IDEATE, gives high school students the opportunity to shape their own learning path. However, once students complete the IDEATE program, where do they go? Our IDEATE graduates go on to attend excellent universities all over the world pursuing a wide variety of majors. IDEATE graduates have received offers from and gone on to attend many world-renowned schools, including Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), Gonzaga University, King's College, and the University of Queensland. The personalized and self-directed nature of the fully accredited IDEATE program comprehensively prepares students for their academic futures.

One of our current IDEATE students, Katrina, has received offers from Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts, California College of Art, and ArtCenter College of Design. She plans to pursue a major in interior design, and Pratt Institute is the number one school in the United States for this major! Interior design was also the focus of her IDEATE project. This project – renovating the Secondary School's student lounge – was an important part of the portfolio Katrina used when applying to universities. BCIS congratulates Katrina and all our outstanding students on their many impressive offers! We also sat down to talk with her to learn more about her project and how the IDEATE program helped her during the university application process.

Katrina got the idea for her project as she started IDEATE in Grade 11. "I started this project because I observed that the surroundings of the student lounge were quite messy, and not really suitable for students to relax in," she explains. Being a core part of the IDEATE Seminar, the project took a lot of work, starting with gathering data from her target audience of other students, drafting designs, seeking feedback from teachers, and even learning new design software, all before her final project defense. The number of interdisciplinary skills included in the project made it quite a challenge, but it ultimately paid off. "The student lounge renovation project is a big part of the content in my portfolio, because it is a real-life application that I can show universities that I am not just studying how to do interior design or memorizing the content of design technology, but I'm also applying that knowledge to real life situations," Katrina says of her IDEATE project. Such real-life application is an important way IDEATE prepares students for university and beyond.

The opportunity to ideate her own project was a big reason Katrina chose the IDEATE program at BCIS. Katrina already knew she wanted to pursue interior design and felt that IDEATE, and the IDEATE project that allowed her to have an impact on the school, was the best fit for her. The product that students ideate in the program can strengthen their portfolios and make their university applications stand out, enhancing the strong academic foundation they get from the other classes they take at BCIS. Furthermore, the student-centered nature of the IDEATE program is perfect for students with all types of interests, from design to business and art to architecture.

Student choice is at the heart of IDEATE. Our IDEATE Coordinator, Ellie, explains that the choices and decisions students make during the IDEATE Seminar guide their learning and give them an advantage in preparing for university, where they will need to select their own areas of research. BCISers who graduate with IDEATE will already have an excellent understanding of the subjects they are passionate about, and a strong academic foundation to build on. Whether it is science, business, art, or any other subject, IDEATE will challenge you to pursue it at a high level and inspire you to create a portfolio that will prepare you for success in university admissions.

IDEATE graduates will go on to become changemakers and leaders in their fields of choice at universities all over the world. The learning impacts they gained from IDEATE will continue to help them. For example, our alumni, Travis (Class of 2021), whose IDEATE project was an upgraded climbing wall at BCIS, is now pursuing architecture at Ball State University in the United States. His project helped him to get a head start on architectural design and helped make a change at BCIS. IDEATE portfolios like Travis' and Katrina's based on actual designs that practically solve problems give students an advantage on their university applications. If you would like to shape your own learning journey, apply for the BCIS IDEATE program today!