Games for Change Student Challenge Los Angeles 2019 Celebration!

Author: Stacie Pierpoint

On Sunday May 19, LAUSD students, families, teachers, and community members gathered at the Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park in downtown LA to celebrate the finalists for the Games for Change Student Challenge in Los Angeles. The Annenberg Foundation, Annenberg Learner, and AnnenbergTech sponsored the G4C Student Challenge in Los Angeles for a second year. The competition also runs in New York City, Atlanta, and Detroit. Learn about the 2018-19 program on the Games for Change website. We have to give un fuerte aplauso to our anchor partner this year, Two Bit Circus Foundation, for enthusiastically facilitating the program in Los Angeles. A whopping 433 students submitted almost 300 games about the themes of Disrupt Aging: Implications of Living 100, presented by AARP, Endangered Species, presented by National Geographic, and Automated Communities: 2050, presented by the National Organization of Minority Architects. A jury panel of industry professionals, Los Angeles-area nonprofit organizations, theme partners, and volunteers studying game design in universities selected a middle school and high school winner for each theme The event opened with an arcade of the finalists’ games. Families and community members played the video games and talked with the students. Then Susanna Pollack, President of Games for Change, emceed an Awards Ceremony after a warm welcome from Leah Hanes, Executive Director of the Two Bit Circus Foundation. The winners were called on stage to receive their trophies and answer questions from Susanna about their games. Leah Hanes presented each of the grand prize winners with a $1000 scholarship from Take-Two Interactives. Annenberg Learner also gave every winner a Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Finalists, winners, and their teachers received additional prizes provided by the Two Bit Circus Foundation, AARP, National Geographic, the National Organization of Minority Architects, and Games for Change. Below is the list of finalists and their games! Congratulations to students and their teachers! Keep an eye on the Games for Change Student Challenge website to view and play the winning games. Disrupt Aging: Implications of Living 100 MIDDLE SCHOOL FINALISTS

• Living to 100, Francisco Sepulveda MS
• Life… Just Longer, Francisco Sepulveda MS (winner)
• Dark Light, Daniel Webster MS
• Living Long, Joseph Le Conte MS
• Mouse Learns How to Live Long and Healthy, Joseph Le Conte MS

HIGH SCHOOL FINALISTS

• Avery’s Way, STEM Academy of Hollywood (winner)
• Steps to Survival, William Howard Taft Charter HS
• Living to 110, Los Angeles Leadership Academy
• Your Life in a Day, Venice High School

Endangered Species MIDDLE SCHOOL FINALISTS

• Desperate, Florence Nightingale MS
• Life Without Animals, South Gate MS (winner)
• Help the Endangered Species, Girls Academic Leadership Academy
• BUNNY-YUMMY, Francisco Sepulveda MS
• Savanna Runner, Hale Charter Academy

HIGH SCHOOL FINALISTS

• Whale Wander, William Howard Taft HS
• Animal Adventures, William Howard Taft HS
• Critter Mail, STEM Academy of Hollywood
• The Life of a Red Panda, STEM Academy of Hollywood (Grand Prize winner)

Automated Communities 2050 MIDDLE SCHOOL FINALISTS

• Evolution 2050, South Gate MS
• Battery, South Gate MS (winner)
• The Future 2050, Florence Nightingale MS
• Life in 2050, Florence Nightingale MS

HIGH SCHOOL FINALISTS

• Flu Hero, 2050, Girls Academic Leadership Academy (winner)
• final project – Olivia and Madeline, Girls Academic Leadership Academy
• Automated DisFuture, STEM Academy of Hollywood
• The Other Side, Venice Senior HS

Please write [email protected] if you have questions about the event or about the Games for Change Student Challenge in Los Angeles.