Tag Archives: stem challenge

On Saturday, May 9, 17 kids between 8-18 years old joined a 50+ adult in their life (parents, grandparents, relatives, or friends) for a free, three-hour video game design workshop at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. hosted by AARP and MentorUp, E-Line Media and the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.  Allison Mishkin of the Cooney Center, and Mark German of E-Line Media led the pairs throughout a workshop to discover the elements that make up any game…

In an education setting, video games are often dismissed as mindless entertainment. This was the opposite in the National STEM Video Game Challenge Workshop hosted at the Science Museum of Virginia (SMV), where Barrie Adleberg and I helped students to critically think about the mechanics of a video game and apply them to their own passions. Students from all over Richmond filed into one of the Museum’s classrooms; they were clearly excited to find out what a video game design…

Together with our partners at the Smithsonian and E-Line Media, we are thrilled to announce that the National STEM Video Game Challenge is now open for its fourth year! The Challenge aims to motivate interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning among youth by tapping into their natural passions for playing and making video games. The competition is held in partnership with founding sponsor the Entertainment Software Association and the generous support of the Institute of Museum and…

Like many of our winners, Cody Haugland was raised around computers. But his interests extend beyond the virtual armies and farms that his counterparts are absorbed with. A member of the Junior ROTC and an avid farmer, Cody knows the meaning of hard work. Cody claims that he grew up around computers, electronics, and video games. He has fond memories of the original gameboy, but it wasn’t until he received an Xbox that the game design bug hit when his…

This week, we are thrilled to introduce you to Nic Badila, the winner of the Middle School Open Platform category. Nic, 14, designed Stemville, one of the most ambitious games we’ve seen. Stemville, a STEM-themed virtual world, invites students to pick a character and participate in games and activities to improve STEM skills. Even more impressively, Nic can program in over 8 languages and has his hands in every STEM-pot imaginable — from robotics, to development, and more. Nic’s first…

Seong-Hyun Ryoo is a swimmer, artist, budding filmmaker and a very talented game designer. An 8th grader from Georgia, he seems mature and responsible for someone his age, speaking with a level of composure one would not expect from a middle schooler. That said, the strong sense of discipline that became evident during our interview helped him clinch the Best Middle School Gamemaker game in the 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge. Seong-Hyun believes that games can be used to…

As we gear up for the long Labor Day Weekend, most are planning to relax and unwind, or perhaps to attend a barbecue or two. After all, how much can get done in a weekend? The answer: a whole lot if you’re High School team winners Noah Ratcliff and Pamela Pizarro-Ruiz. They spent a sleepless 48 hours from design to final completion on Fog, their entry to the National STEM Video Game Challenge. Fog is a puzzle game where players…

Lexi Schneider is an artist, basketball player, and incredibly curious about the world around her…so curious in fact, that on her first foray into game design, she won the Best Written Middle School Game in the National STEM Video Game Challenge. “Head of the Class,” a written entry, takes place in a virtual school where each level is a different animation, inspired by classic comic strips. After a brief video introduction, the player is challenged to solve puzzles within each…

Continuing our spotlight on the STEM Challenge Winners, we are pleased to introduce you to Kieran Luscombe, winner of the Gamestar Mechanic High School prize. When presented with a set of tools, Kieran says that he always “finds a use for everything and then I use it to the best of my ability.” And by always pushing himself, he managed to create An Untold Adventure, the best High School Gamestar Mechanic game, in this year’s National STEM Video Game Challenge!…

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center and E-Line Media are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2013 National STEM Video Game Challenge. This year, we received close to 4,000 entries — and not only did more students enter the competition than in previous years, but their games were more complex, challenging and creative than ever before. We were blown away by the energy that students put into their games, the number of platforms they used to develop them (over 15!)…