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The Entertainment Software Association Foundation (ESAF) kicked off 2013 with the launch of two programs that bring technology and educational opportunities to communities across America.

Early this year, we began accepting submissions to our second annual Education Challenge Grant, a program for educators who innovatively use computer and video games to enhance classroom learning. A panel of judges is currently reviewing the applications we received, and will announce the winners later this spring. In March, we announced and began receiving applications for our Scholarship Program, which helps women and minority students pursue degrees in computer and video game-related subjects. You can read more about this program below.

Our 2013 grantees have also been active, and this edition of the ESAF newsletter will highlight the inspiring work of two organizations: ThanksUSA and HopeLab.

As always, thank you for supporting our programs and helping ESAF make a positive impact on today's youth. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to keep updated on all ESAF and grantee news.

With warm regards,

Jenny Lai
Vice President, ESA Foundation

Calling All Students!

Since 2007, ESAF has helped more than 140 exceptional students achieve their academic and professional aspirations by providing scholarships to pursue video-game related degrees in subjects such as graphic design, computer science, animation, programming, digital entertainment, and software engineering.

The program is open to women and minority students who are accepted to, or currently studying full-time, at an accredited four-year college or university in the United States. Not only does the scholarship support the education of these future innovators, it also helps to foster diversity within the video game industry.

Interested students can visit http://www.esafoundation.org/
scholarship.asp to learn more about the scholarship and fill out an application form for the 2013-2014 school year. Completed applications must be submitted by May 15, 2013. ESAF will announce winners in the fall of 2013.

Grantee Spotlight: ThanksUSA

April is the Month of the Military Child, a time to acknowledge the sacrifices that the children of service members make alongside their parents. For ESAF grantee ThanksUSA, supporting service members and their children has been a key mission for nearly a decade.

ThanksUSA mobilizes Americans of all ages to "thank" the men and women of the United States armed forces by providing need-based college, technical, and vocational school scholarships to service members' children and spouses. As part of this effort, ESAF works with ThanksUSA to offer between 20 and 25 scholarships annually to children of service members who are pursuing their undergraduate education. Since 2009, ThanksUSA and ESAF have awarded scholarships to 101 high-caliber students.

		"Thank you once again for providing me and other military dependents with this generous scholarship. Thank you for honoring my father's service, my family's sacrifice, and my own work to reach my educational goals." — Meghann Dailey, Junior at Whitworth University
		"I understand the value of education and am truly grateful for the ESA Foundation/ThanksUSA scholarship. I would not be able to pay for college without scholarships like this one. I will continue to work hard and prove that I am a worthy recipient." — Daniel Keef, Junior at Liberty Univerity

These scholarship recipients include many students who are pursuing degrees in video game-related subjects like computer science, such as Sriritana Daowz Sutasirisap, the stepdaughter of active-duty U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jinda Boonsuwan. Daowz is enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin, where she is working to earn two bachelor's degrees – one in design and one in computer science. Passionate about new technologies, Daowz hopes to put her education to use as an interactive designer.

Scholarships are just one of the powerful ways that ThanksUSA supports service members and their families. The organization also offers Treasure Hunt, a Web-based history game underwritten by ESAF that reminds players about the freedom and American values that members of the armed services fight for every day. This year, Treasure Hunt expanded its reach to mobile devices with the launch of apps for Google and Apple operating systems.

To join the "hunt," and show your support for military families, visit https://www.thanksusa.org/main/registration/step1.html.

Grantee Spotlight: HopeLab

For children diagnosed with cancer, the behavioral and psychological effects of the disease can hamper positive medical outcomes. Yet thanks to HopeLab, young patients are harnessing the power of interactive technology to improve their health with new online games about fighting cancer, available at re-mission2.org.

In HopeLab's first video game, Re-Mission, children get to battle virtual cancer and manage the side effects of cancer treatment. Through play, the game motivates patients to follow their treatment regimen. In fact, a study in the journal Pediatrics found that patients who played Re-Mission kept higher levels of chemotherapy in their blood and took antibiotics more regularly than those who had not played the game.

On April 29, HopeLab will launch Re-Mission 2, a collection of six Web-based games that build on the original Re-Mission. In Re-Mission 2, players are cast inside the human body to fight cancer. Using "weapons" such as chemotherapy, antibiotics, and the body's natural defense mechanisms, players destroy individual cancer cells. The game was developed with the help of 120 young cancer patients from across the country to ensure that in addition to being motivational, the game is also fun. Like its predecessor, Re-Mission 2 alters children's perceptions of chemotherapy and inspires them to stick with their treatments.

		"A lot of times we don't really want to take our meds and we wonder: 'what is this doing, where's it going, I'm tired of it, it's just going to make me throw up.' But when you see on the screen and visualize what's happening inside your body and what the chemotherapy is doing, you're not looking at a PowerPoint, you're not being bored to death by your doctors. You're playing a game, and you're being chemo, and you're killing your bad cells. And I feel like that's something a kid could relate to at any age." — Jose Hevara, Cancer Patient
		"Here is a product that kids can engage with in a fun way, and it would help them learn about what they needed to do in order to get better." — Ernest R. Katz, Ph.D., Children's Hospital Los Angeles

This summer, HopeLab will optimize Re-Mission 2 for mobile devices and tablets, expanding the game’s reach and giving patients the chance to play the game on any device with a screen and wireless connection. To try Re-Mission 2, visit http://www.re-mission2.org/.