Yia! 2023: A Celebration for Bay of Plenty Youth
In its 14th year, more than 670 people from nine Western Bay of Plenty schools registered to take part in the yia! challenge for 2023. yia! is dedicated to nurturing students’ innovation and problem-solving capabilities with the goal of shaping them into future leaders to support our region as a growing destination for innovation. It is a design-thinking program focused on students identifying real-world problems and creating innovative solutions and offers a hands-on approach allowing them to gain firsthand experience in the intricacies of the innovation process, fostering skills in design thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication.
Since its inception, yia! has engaged over 10,000 rangatahi from across the Western Bay of Plenty, resulting in the submission of over 2000 innovative team projects. Additionally, the program has successfully collaborated with more than 250 innovation leaders and businesses.
Priority One’s yia! Project Manager, Meg Davis, says there were 36 finalist teams and 86 individual finalists who made it to the yia! finals this year.
“It’s incredible to see the young talent we have in the Western Bay. The calibre of entries this year was impressive – and the greatest number of entries we’ve had, so it’s exciting to see increasing numbers of rangatahi innovating and embracing their big ideas.”
Project Manager for the Future of Work and yia! - Priority One, Meg Davis at the 2023 Awards Night
Davis says while each category could only have one winner, all entries were truly inspiring, and all participants should be proud. “The innovation and creativity we see each year is nothing short of outstanding. These rangatahi are passionate and thrive off the opportunity to connect with some of our leading innovators. We continue to see the remarkable growth and innovation of young minds in the Bay of Plenty.”
Priority One partners with Bluelab, Woods, The Shine Collective and Cucumber to deliver the programme, with sponsors including Robotics Plus, Beca, Page Macrae Engineering, Datacom and the University of Waikato.
Bluelab CEO, Jono Jones, says the yia! programme is a vital initiative in preparing today’s students for the workforce.
“In our rapidly changing world, where technological progress is reshaping industries at an unprecedented rate, innovation is no longer a choice; it has become an absolute imperative. The jobs of the future remain beyond our current imagination, underscoring the urgent need to equip the upcoming workforce with an innovation mindset rooted in creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, and effective communication. Bluelab’s continued success hinges on today’s students evolving into the skilled workforce of tomorrow, and we view the yia! program as a vital initiative in teaching these essential skills.”
A Pāpāmoa College student who came up with the idea for a daily wellbeing check-in app has taken out the Intermediate People’s Choice Award at Priority One’s Young Innovator Awards (yia!) in Tauranga for 2023.
Layla Clarke’s app idea was one of many award-winning innovations celebrated at the yia! prizegiving on Wednesday evening. Layla named the winning app ‘Emotional Attendance’, designing it to allow the user to seamlessly check and track their feelings – a critical need for today’s youth.
Izzy Hume and Nina Young from Tauranga Girls’ College took the Junior People’s Choice Award with Spark-Cam, a customised video camera for synchronised swimming review. While the Senior category winner, an AI-powered teacher’s marking assistant called Aicerta, was an innovative idea from Tauranga Boys’ College’s Wonyoung Chang.
The yia! programme is known as one of the highlights on the school calendar and offers local students from Years 7 – 13 a hands-on chance to develop an innovative product or service that addresses real-world problems. The yia! programme is delivered by the Western Bay of Plenty economic development agency, Priority One, in partnership with local businesses and schools.
The 2023 yia! organisers and judges on awards night
Full winner results:
People’s Choice Award Winners
Intermediate
Innovation: Emotional Intelligence
Layla Clarke
Pāpāmoa College
Junior
Innovation: Spark-Cam
Izzy Hume, Nina Young
Tauranga Girls’ College
Senior
Innovation: Aicerta
Wonyoung Chang
Tauranga Boys’ College
Supreme Winner
Intermediate Category
Innovation: poochBUBBLES
Cora Barett-Hodgson, Ella Chea, Milli Banbury
Aquinas College
Junior Category
Innovation: Sunny Side Up
Catelyn Evans, Emma Hurley, Kale Brooking, Pauline Beetz, Peyton Clode
Otūmoetai College
Senior Category
Innovation: Glowshield
Amelia Shorter, Haylee Hextall
Otūmoetai College
Second Place
Intermediate Category:
Innovation: Emotional Attendance
Layla Clarke
Pāpāmoa College
Junior Category
Innovation: MI-Frame
Elia Szulakowski, Mia Lowe
Aquinas College and Tauranga Girls College
Senior Category
Innovation: SOVND – Sound Vibration Notification Device
Amaya Greene, Mia Olsen, Samantha Hunter, Shiloh Warner, Skye Shaw
Mount Maunganui College
Third Place
Intermediate Category
Innovation: The Life Tee
Lachlan Talbot
Aquinas College
Junior Category
Innovation: Bio-lids
Alexia Rogers-Hibell, Elliott Swney, Hannah Richards, Katy McLeod
Otūmoetai College
Senior Category
Innovation: Aicerta
Wonyoung Chang
Tauranga Boys’ College
Category Winners
Creativity
Innovation: Spreadstick
Logan Braithwaite
Mount Maunganui College
Communication
Innovation: Height-Halt Grass
Liam Jury, Oliver Kirk, Tim Wiebes
ACG Tauranga
Research
Innovation: Solution Seaweed
Charlie Minshall, Kara Blackstock
Otūmoetai College
Sustainability
Innovation: Bio-Lids
Alexia Rogers-Hibell, Elliott Swney, Hannah Richards, Katy McLeod
Otūmoetai College
NEW CATEGORY | Social Good
Innovation: Kin
Azalea Kaur, Cailey Ngawhika, Jasvir Kaur, Jaybe Ellison
Te Puke High School