A pipeline of future engineers and computer programmers is open in Burleson ISD. NBC 5 education reporter Wayne Carter reports they’re doing it using video games.
What do you do when your child, won't lift their head from a video game? How do you get them to learn?
"I'll say, 'Oh, yeah, you guys like to play this game? Let me show you how that game works. And you can add other things in that game that you might want in there,'" said Ren Eversole, teacher, at Burleson ISD's Game Design School. It is an entire physical building devoted to teaching students gaming, and everything else on the curriculum using gaming.
"It's a combination of both math and science and your normal learning language type thing. Because you have to learn how to do it. And then you have to use math to create your correct physics and stuff like that," said Hayden Rogstad, a student in the school.
Eversole started class with a game he made that had a problem, it was impossible to win. The monsters eat you before you can collect all the coins. So the students had to break open the code, figure out why, and fix it.
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"I'm not real good at the game, playing the game," said Olive Cass, a student. But she's great at coding it.
Oliva is the only girl here. Coding with her fancy nails is tough, as was, convincing all the guys.
"They were like you play games. But you know, because like, you look at me and like, they kind of were like that. I don't know about that," she said.
Carter In The Classroom
Focusing on unique things school districts are doing to help children succeed.
But they know now, she's one of the best here.
Educators believe the students may be coding games today but it sets the foundation to build power grids, code electronics, and companies noticing what they're doing here in Burleson.
"They are looking for potential programmers to teach their programs, how to open the landing gear up or detect things that are far away. So we actually participate at Lockheed Martin solving challenges that they give us," said Eversole.
They graduate certified in coding, ready to work at places like Lockheed Martin, but It's not all coding here.
Ethan Martin started taking gaming when it was just a class in his middle school. Now he's set to graduate from this high school, where he fell in love with computer designing and the art of making games.
"I don't like working with my hands too much. But I knew I liked working with computers. And like, I always like animated stuff," said Martin.
An entire school that resembles one of the most high-tech companies taking a kid's most basic love of something fun and helping them turn it into a career.
