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Updates from the Entertainment Software Association Foundation
Coming Up

ESAF is accepting applications for its Education Challenge Grant, annual scholarship, and grant programs:

Apply for our Education Challenge Grant
(Program deadline: April 18, 2014)

Apply for our scholarship program
(Program deadline: May 15, 2014)

Apply for our grant program(Program deadline: May 28, 2014)

On April 17, ESAF and the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) will host an event at McKinley Technology Education Campus in Washington, DC to launch FAS’s new educational game, Immune Defense. Be sure to visit our website and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for updates on the event.

From April 11-13, ESAF grantee MassDiGI will be at PAX East. If you are attending, be sure to visit MassDiGI at booth #499. We also encourage you check out MassDiGI’s panel: Game Devs: The Next Generation.

Find Us Online

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Happy spring! At ESA Foundation (ESAF), we are kicking off the new season by accepting applications for our grant and scholarship programs.

Students who are pursuing a video game-related degree can apply for our 2014-2015 academic scholarships, which you can read more in this newsletter. Additionally, if you are a nonprofit that uses technology to deliver meaningful opportunities for America’s youth, we encourage you to apply for our annual grant program. We are also accepting applications for our 2014 Education Challenge Grant from teachers seeking to utilize video games and educational technology in their lesson plans.

In this edition of the ESAF newsletter, we showcase ESAF’s scholarship program and feature guest commentary on the importance of technology in education by Antonio Tijerino, president & CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation – a 2014 ESAF grantee. We also highlight the meaningful work of ESAF grantee EverFi.

For more news and updates on ESAF programming and grantees’ activities throughout the year, please follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Warm regards,

Jenny Lai
Vice President, ESA Foundation

Calling All Students!

Calling All Students!Since 2007, ESAF has helped more than 170 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.

“My ESA Foundation scholarship is helping me realize a childhood dream of becoming a 3D animator,” said Sabrina Chaney, a sophomore majoring in Animation, Interactive Technology, Video Graphics, and Special Effects at Savannah College of Art and Design. “I am now learning how to bring the characters I have always imagined to life through animation.”

The program is open to women and minority students who are accepted to or studying full-time at an accredited four-year college or university in the United States. The scholarships support the education of these future innovators and help foster diversity within the video game industry.

“Whenever I think about the many opportunities that I have received at college, I can’t help but think about how helpful my ESA Foundation scholarship has been,” said Jordan Kunzika, a sophomore computer science at Dartmouth College. “Besides getting financial assistance to begin my freshman year, being able to mention that I’ve won this scholarship has led to many opportunities, including a research assistantship in a robotics lab and working for Google as a student ambassador for Dartmouth College.”

Interested students can click here to learn more about the scholarship and fill out an application form for the 2014-2015 school year. Completed applications must be submitted by May 15. ESAF will announce winners in the fall of 2014.

Leaders of Today, Not Tomorrow – America Can’t Wait

By Antonio Tijerino, President and CEO, Hispanic Heritage Foundation

According to the most recent rankings released by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Global Innovation Index, the top innovative countries are Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States. If the results from the past year’s collaboration between my Hispanic Heritage Foundation (HHF) and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) are any indication, America will soon be at the top of the global mountain in innovation. That is due in large part to the youngest, most vibrant, and underserved segment of the population – minorities. 

Our country’s propensity for innovation will come from a minority youth movement. Currently, one in four science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers are foreign born, and 10,000 Baby-Boomers – mostly white – will reach retirement age every day for the next twenty years. ESA and ESAF understand this issue, and have moved forward to address it in a manner that pays tribute to the video game community – with action.

ESA partnered with HHF and other minority-serving organizations to launch a national initiative called the ESA LOFT Video Game Innovation Initiative, which challenged minority youths ages15-25 to design a video game that addressed social issues in their community. The initiative encouraged social innovation among youths on their terms. Through this program, 20 youths from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico were selected to present their ideas to Members of Congress and to the White House in Washington, DC. They also received an “Innovation Grant” to further their ideas. The games they developed ranged from dealing with cerebral palsy and promoting healthy lifestyles to educating youth about teen pregnancy and preparing students for college. One game even focused on teaching literacy through rap lyrics on Twitter. These young developers wowed top minds in Washington with their games and apps. The initiative became a national sensation, as elected officials, academic institutions, and the media took part. In fact, last month HHF was invited back to the White House to present a case study of its work during the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Minorities in STEM forum.   

2013 LOFT ESA Video Game Innovation Fellows

At the core of the ESA LOFT Video Game Innovation Initiative is the belief that using technology is essential to not only the advancement of minority communities, but America as a nation. The link between playing and developing video games to computer coding, cybersecurity, and other skills-gap areas is evident, and that is the gap our Initiative seeks to fill.

In addition, ESAF supported HHF’s Youth Awards program, which recognizes Latino high school seniors across the country who have excelled in the classroom and community, and have focused on academic disciplines including STEM, healthcare, education, business and finance, arts, and fitness. Strategically, ESAF sponsored the Innovation and Technology category of the HHF Youth Awards. A total of 30 students – three in each of the 10 Youth Awards markets – received ESAF grants to support their education, and were honored during ceremonies at top universities across the country. Students who received the award are studying subjects including computer engineering, alternative energy, gene abnormalities, anti-cyber bullying, robotics, aeronautical engineering, and software engineering. Some have started their own nonprofits or tech companies, others have achieved scientific breakthroughs in seismology and forensics, and some even have patents pending. Many are the first in their families to graduate high school. One award winner – a young autistic man – was recently accepted to a top college to major in video game development, and is designing his own video games to help other autistic youth.

At HHF we like to say that these young leaders are leaders of today, not tomorrow. America can’t wait. 

Grantee Spotlight: EverFi

For Hazel Vazquez, a teacher at Sunrise Elementary School in Los Angeles, video games are a useful tool for educating students about digital citizenship.

With the support of ESAF grantee EverFi, Ms. Vazquez is engaging students through the Ignition: ESA Digital Living Project, a computer-based curriculum for 8th and 9th-grade students. The program is aligned with national standards established by the International Society for Technology in Education, andteaches a dynamic array of topics, including online privacy and security, preventing cyberbullying, internet ethics, and effective online research techniques.

“This engaging and fun program has taught my students how to be more Internet-smart and more savvy with computer software,” said Ms. Vazquez. “The Ignition: ESA Digital Living Project has helped my students learn to be kind to one another on social media and taught them how to research new information responsibly, as well.”

Students at Sunrise Elementary in Los Angeles play the ESA Digital Living Project during class, learning about topics such as using technology appropriately in school, evaluating personal digital time management, and making responsible decisions with mobile devices.

With a grant from ESAF, EverFi has doubled the number of schools using the Ignition: ESA Digital Living Project, reaching 60 Los Angeles-area schools and 10 schools in Austin, TX.

"It's not often that you find a digital literacy curriculum that is refined, easy to use, and extremely engaging, said Griswold, a teacher at Camino Nuevo Harvard Charter School in Los Angeles. “My students are raving about how fun and relevant the lessons are, and have taken it upon themselves to begin educating our campus about cyberbullying after completing the Ignition: ESA Digital Living Project coursework.”

Copyright © 2014 — The Entertainment Software Association Foundation

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