Play, Make and Design Games in the Pacific NW

Archive for Education – Page 3

Internships and Practicums in Games have Arrived!

Posted by Jeffrey Sens

· Tuesday, May 20th, 2014

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Starting this month, May 2014, we are accepting applications for our internship or practicum programs.

Internships are are typically for High School age students, while Practicums serve College and University students seeking course credits.

We offer both paid and unpaid internships. If applying for an unpaid internship, we are dedicated to working with your community and local businesses to develop fiscal support.

We offer paid internships for eligible youth ages 16-21 through our partnership with IRCO’s Work Experience Program. Please review IRCO’s requirements to see if you qualify for a paid internship.

The Work Experience Intermediary (WEXI) Program provides fully and partially subsidized work experiences in Multnomah and Washington counties for students 16-21 years of age. Students are eligible if they are participating in a workforce development program including GED, High School Diploma, etc. through one of 10 partners:

Multnomah County:

Mount Hood Community College Project YESS, Open Meadow, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (POIC), IRCO, Portland Youth Builders, New Avenues for Youth, Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA)

Washington County:
Hillsboro School District, Merlo Station Alternative School and Oregon Human Development Corporation (OHDC)

Students are referred by their appropriate youth workforce development system provider to the WEXI program, which is housed at IRCO Main Office in Portland, OR. Youth are interviewed and placed by a Work Experience Specialist in accordance with employer needs, youth skills, and youth interest. Work experiences run from 60 to 120 hours for a highly supervised, social purpose enterprise-style work experience, to 120-240 hours for a more independent work experience. There are four levels of work experiences based on a student’s skills and training as well as employer needs.

We have many roles appropriate to diverse interests. For interns, these include: Summer camp mentors and Non-profit Administrative Assistants. For practicums, we have roles as Site Coordinators, Program Directors, Research Assistants, Fiscal Development, Marketing and Publicity, and more.

To find out more, please visit the links above or contact us directly at info@GameEducationPDX.com

Summer Camps in Game Making and Digital Storytelling

Posted by Jeffrey Sens

· Monday, May 19th, 2014

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Library Summer Camps in 2014

We’re thrilled to announce 4 public, free camps this Summer through the Multnomah County Library (MCL) teen services. Camps registration is online with MCL here, or click the links below for individual libraries.

Rolling registration begins May 26th and continues through August. If your children are younger, please contact us at info@GameEducationPDX.com. We are working with the MCL to make these camps available to younger participants as well as teens.

June 16-20th, Capitol Hill 2-4pm

June 23-27th, Gresham, 3-4:30pm

August 18-22nd, Troutdale, 2-4pm

August 25-29th, Sellwood-Moreland, 12:30-2:30pm

GameCampPoster Final Color

Imagine New Worlds with Reading and Games

Have you ever wanted to create your own adventure story or a game you can play with friends?

Bringing games to life can be easy and fun! Join Pixel Arts for five days of fun, hands-on workshops to create tabletop and video games with your friends. We’ll draw, sketch, and design games inspired by your favorite books and your imagination.

You’ll be able to:

Build your own game worlds using cards, paper, tiles, dice, and tokens
Write a choose-your-own-adventure game with Twine – a game-making software
Bring your game to life with SNAP – an easy to learn visual programming software
Combine your projects or continue on with one of them in a free-for-all maker place
Learn about game developer careers and local game spaces
At the end of the activities, share your games with friends online and at the library!

Registration required and participants are encouraged to attend all five sessions.

March 16th, Open House with Pixel Arts@Flux Hackerspace

Posted by Jeffrey Sens

· Monday, March 10th, 2014

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You’re Invited! Pixel Arts Open House

Join us March 16th for our Monthly Open House at Flux Hackerspace to play locally made games, meet our community and try game making tools. This month, explore Miniverse, a fast-paced puzzle game for the iPad in which you move helpless people around a universe.

When: March 16th, 2-6pm
Where: 412 NW Couch #222, Portland, OR 97209-3880

A Portland Games for Change meeting will be held between 2pm and 4pm, and be sure to stay until 4pm for our Information and Orientation Session if you’re interested in volunteering.

If you are a local maker or developer interested in showcasing an activity or project for attendees, please contact us at info@GameEducationPDX.com!

Metered parking is available on the street between the hours of 1-7pm, and there is a parking lot across the street from our office with entrances on both Couch and Davis St. We will have a sign posted on our clear glass doors and a volunteer greeter or phone number posted in case our building is locked at any time.

Community Celebration & New Partners, August 18th

Posted by Will Lewis

· Friday, August 16th, 2013

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From the successes of our first Youth Game Camp, we are assessing the camp with feedback by youth, parents and volunteers. Please join us to learn more and celebrate with a Pixel Portraits and Game Party, Sunday, August 18th 7-9pm!

Hosted at Cafe au Play (5633 SE Division St, Portland, OR), a non-profit, kid-friendly venue with inside and outside play areas and a full menu including gluten free and vegan options. Light party snacks will be provided.

Come to:

see what happens at a Portland game camp
learn about upcoming volunteer opportunities
discover new programs for youth to make their own games
create your very own 8-bit pixel portraits and avatars
And don’t forget, bring your favorite board games & meet the community

In other exciting news, great community partners are helping develop new programs and support services including paid internships and job training.

We are working with Portland YouthBuilders’ Youth Media program, which focuses on giving students of under-served demographics the opportunity to create professional video and audio PSAs, print design campaigns, and logos at discounted rates for nonprofits. They will be collaborating to create a mini-documentary based on our September game jam; we’re thrilled to be working with their youth for future events!

We’re also solidifying plans for a “training the trainer” program with Self Enhancement, Inc., a nonprofit organization supporting at-risk urban youth in NE Portland at 8 schools. By developing an open program together, we will be able to offer volunteers training for mentoring and work opportunities in game education.

We’ll be sharing more news about the partnership programs soon! Please contact us for more information or to get your learning community involved.

Youth Game Camp, July 27 & 28th 2013

Posted by Game Education PDX

· Monday, July 8th, 2013

· No Comments

Looking for a fun, hands on opportunity to play, make and design games?

Participate in a “jigsaw” maker camp. Pick among areas of game development you are interested in and move between them through the course of the weekend. Groups learn by making together in three learning pathways.

Art and Animation
Computer Science and Programming
Design and Game Play

Where: Portland Youth Builders, 4816 SE 92nd Avenue

When: July 27 & 28th 2013, 9am-4pm

Ages: 12-18, up to 50 participants

Cost: No charge

Enrollment opens Monday July 8th. To receive registration information, you can enroll on our Events page. For more information about the camp, contact our Volunteer Coordinator Kristen Micohn at info@gameeducationpdx.com.

Local Portland Groups for Games and Gaming

Posted by Game Education PDX

· Saturday, July 6th, 2013

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Wondering where to find passionate people working on games together? Trying to find collaborators and begin that project you’ve been dreaming of?

Look no further than our own backyard in the Silicon Forrest. The Portland Indie G ame Squad, or PIGSquad, is an open group dedicated to nurturing a supportive, welcoming community of diverse independent game makers.

Every month, they host a general meeting where you can meet like-minded enthusiasts, chat about recent game news and share your current projects and ideas. They also host a wide variety of local events including board game nights, game jams and exhibitions for local developers like OMSI After Dark.

What else do they do? How about game learning with a monthly Unity 3D interest group and monthly Art/Code nights. They’re a creative bunch and welcoming to all. As you can expect from a home grown Portland group, PIGSquad is geeky, fun, generous, friendly, quirky and diverse.

Our own Will Lewis is the founder of PIGSquad, and they have generously supported Pixel Arts Game Education at a number of events. Give Will a shout out and see what can happen!

Volunteer Orientation for Pixel Arts Game Education, July 14th

Posted by Game Education PDX

· Saturday, July 6th, 2013

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Pixel Arts Game Education is an open source initiative to bring together game changers from all backgrounds, experiences and skills.

You need not be an “expert” or a “professional” to create change. Jump in now, and help make Portland a mecca for youth to play, build and design games through a collaborative learning community! Our next volunteer orientation and training is Sunday July 14th 1-5pm at the Woodstock Library in SE Portland. See our calendar for more information.

Our goal is to create safe, intergenerational learning events that engage and encourage youth to explore. We offer many opportunities to contribute to community ranging from intermittent, brief events to long-term mentoring and program development. To help us match your interests, please respond to the following questions. We look forward to working together and will contact you shortly.

Link to Volunteer Enrollment form.

2013 Summer Opportunities for Youth

Posted by Game Education PDX

· Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

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Pixel Arts Game Education supports a rich ecosystem of youth-adult partnerships. Here are some upcoming and free Summer opportunities.

July 13, 2013 @ 9:30 am – 4:00 pm. A Free web programming workshop for ChickTech: High School participants.

July 29-August 30. If you are or know a young person, ages 14-23, who lives in Clackamas, Clark, Multnomah or Washington County, then check out the Student Alliance Project, an awesome organization and Youth-led, Free third annual, five-week, Summer Leadership Camp.

Registration is OPEN for Adventure WILD Summer Camp: a benefit for Outdoor School. Running now to August 9th.

And save the date for our 1st Youth Game Camp, July 27 & 28th @ 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.

Maker-based Learning in Games: Half-Jams for Social Justice

Posted by Game Education PDX

· Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

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Heard of Hackathons for coding? Well game jams are the community way to play, build and design games together.

Game jams are a massive part of indie game communities and the game education movement. They are opportunities to bring new and experienced developers together to collaborate, share resources and inspire each other. Just consider the power of immensely popular events like the Global Game Jam where thousands of enthusiasts from across the world try their hand at creating a game in under 72 hours.

Game jams aren’t just events taking place elsewhere; here in the Portland area, Pixel Arts Game Education supports a number of jams and half-jams. In May, we had the chance to work with middle and high school students at the Oregon Game Project Challenge, an event hosted by our program partner TechStart.

More recently in June, we assisted Saturday Academy with their course, Social Justice: STEM Solutions. With our half-jam, students jumped into developing a game idea in just a few hours to help non-profits address in a social issue. Starting with actual local issues like saving animals and the roots of hunger, they creatively innovated new ideas to bring us into solving problems through games.

Pixel Arts Game Education helps create fun, hands on maker based learning in games. By playing, making and designing games together, we can support the creative imagination of youth and engage their passions to create better worlds. Want to bring a half jam or full game jam to your learning community? Contact Pixel Arts Game Education now for resources, support and services. We’re excited to spread the joy of making games and empowering youth to explore new skills through games.