For the first time, ESports is offered as an elective to the students of Edison High. Following the initial introduction of the ESports arena to the school two years ago, students with a passion for gaming now have the opportunity to take it as a class.
“A brand new start to something that has been going on for years and is somewhat hidden,” said Krishniva Matta ‘25.
As the world digitalizes at a faster rate than ever, and tech companies strive to make games more engaging than ever, the field of ESports grows rapidly. Various YouTubers, such as PewDiePie, DanTDM, and Ninja make a living off of video games. While many view video games as a fun way to pass the time, the growth of the gaming industry is making it a potential career path in the future.
The option of an ESports class aims to prepare students for a possible future in the gaming industry. Through interactive and engaging lessons, students have the opportunity to expand their knowledge on careers in ESports.
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A student works on an assignment paper in the front of the E3 Arena.
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A student works on an assignment while referencing the lecture slideshow in the E3 Arena.
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Georgi Petrov ’24 works on a paper assignment in the E3 eSports arena. Students in these classes use a mix of both traditional and computer-based assignments.
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The class is held in the E3 Arena located inside the school media center. This arena is full of various cutting-edge gaming peripherals such as gaming computers, mice, keyboards, and monitors. During the class, students have the opportunity to use state-of-the-art gaming PCs capable of streaming and recording.
Similar to a traditional class, new ESports teacher Mr. Adam Romano, has a Do-Now waiting for students to get them thinking as they walk into the ‘arena.’ After ten minutes, the class has a conversation about the Do-Now and reaches some sort of conclusion. Students are then given a presentation on their material for the day. They discuss gaming jargon (ex: RNG- Random Number Generator) and then start working on the lesson. The slides involved questions and ideas that encouraged the students to have passion-filled conversations about the specific topic.
When asked about his favorite part of the class, Georgi Petrov ‘24 said, “Getting to learn more about the history of ESports is something I didn’t know about.”
Following the presentation, students were given independent work (i.e. research activity, watching an Edpuzzle) so they could learn on their own terms. Though the name suggests that students would be playing games during class, students were instead examining the nuances of video games and analyzing gameplay to explore various tactics.
The ESports class gives students with a passion for gaming an opportunity to explore their interests in an academic and challenging environment.
