We are happy to be linking up with Global Kids’ Online Leadership Program (OLP) this year. Global Kids is an awesome organization here in NYC that uses digital media to promote global awareness and youth civic engagement. From their website: “OLP integrates a youth development approach and international and public policy issues into youth media programs that build digital literacy, foster substantive online dialogues, develop resources for educators, and promote civic participation.” Basically, they are pretty fantastic.
So this school year, OLP is running it’s fifth season of high school internship program called Playing 4 Keeps (P4K). This time, among other activities, the P4K kids will design social impact games using Gamestar Mechanic and also learn a bunch about what happens behind the scenes of making games.
P4K keeps a blog detailing what they are working on each week with Gamestar Mechanic and other game design activities. Their most recent post includes reflection from the high schoolers themselves. Some of my favorite quotes from the kids include:
“Playing for Keeps has revolutionized the way I think about gaming as a whole… No longer will a game just be a game, but a transformed piece, an artistic creation, always with a purpose and always with a meaning.”
“Joining this program, I saw how games might have been built/made with various values in mind, and how it is not exactly due to a designer, but the perspective of a player that is what shapes it.”
“It’s fun and educational. IT’S FUNJACATIONAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
=)
Check out more of their posts here.