Gamification Sessions & Video Game Leagues

Video game events are a great way to bring the school community together & create learning environments. As more people get vaccinated and the mandates are lifted we will be able to host our in person events at our local community centers, schools and venues like we had done so pre COVID. There are 227 million people who play video games in the US but 74% of gamers and developers are both white. Meanwhile only 14% make up both Black and Latino communities. These imbalances are caused by lack of access to gaming consoles in the homes of low income BIPOC communities & funding inadequacies. White American PC gaming communities grew into their own ecosystems & received major funding while the same funding & opportunities didn't materialize for BIPOC. For instance, the fighting genre video game Brawlhalla generated $204k for its world championship tournament in 2020 & Street Fighter, a same genre and more users but played the majority of BIPOC, only raised $20k during its highest paid tournament in 2020. The funding imbalance still exists because sponsorships continues to invest on one side.

The use of video games in the classroom is not surprising considering that 80 percent of Americans believe that video games can serve an educational purpose. According to the ESA’s 2021 Essential Facts About the Video Game Industry report, most Americans believe that video games can improve both cognitive and creative skills and he Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation study done in 2018 concurs. They found that video game-based learning tools can boost cognitive learning amongst students by 12%. Each game we play teaches different lessons. Chess, for example, emphasizes planning, problem solving, and complex thinking. Playing with dolls emphasizes imagination and role playing. Board and card games can teach strategy. Memory games can teach facts. Storytelling games help children remember and appreciate the past and connect with shared cultural and collective experiences. The games we play on computers, consoles, and phones are simply the newest iteration of how we have used games to teach and learn for thousands of years. The fundamental truth is that we learn through play. Whether it’s chess, playing with dolls, or a digital game of solitaire, play inspires critical thinking, creativity, and connection. For children, play shapes and improves their social and psychological development. It is an important and necessary way for them to experiment with the world. Having gamification accessible in the schools & the communities will provide reinforcement to disconnected learners.  Apart of  Game Glorys social mission is to increase the reputation of BIPOC members in the e-sport and game development industry. We plan to support this effort with increasing the number of low income families who have access to gaming consoles. We know that 80% of gamers believe that video games provide emotional, social & mental stimulation. Through partnerships with the neighboring public, charter and local community centers, we will provide game consoles & free gamification workshops to members of the community during that will happen regularly during the school year.  

Our target audience is all communities that are underdeveloped and under served. Currently, our focus is the Red Hook adolescent (16 - 19) and Young Adult (20 - 24) community in Brooklyn NY. According to 2021 Red Hook Census Tract, There is 650 16-19 years old & 820 people between the ages 20-24. The impact of natural disasters, the pandemic & last mile distribution centers have a greater effect in this sort of community because of racialized capitalism & institutionalized racism. Red Hook has faced a 21.6% unemployment rate, the highest level of poverty, with one of the highest population of youth in Brooklyn. We want to bring job opportunity and revenue to the community and duplicate the success in similar communities after. We started as a Department of Education (DOE) vendor providing after school programming working closely w/ RH students ages 6-10. Now, we look to expand & serve more adolescent RH youth (age 16-19) who are enrolled in public & private schools as well as residents (ages 18-24) who are underemployed & eager for alternative career paths in E-Sports. We plan to work in more schools and bring our curriculum to more school programs. This will empower teachers to teach more dynamically. Teachers can use video games in their classrooms to help students think through creative approaches to complex problems. These practices promote the development of digital skills and competencies in this important media form. Understanding how teachers use games in the classroom and how students learn through play will inform educators and policy makers in strengthening our curriculum so that  students are positioned for success after graduation. Through playing and creating games, students develop problem-solving skills, promote critical thinking, and create meaningful relationships with their peers. Virtual worlds help students learn about the real world. They learn through play. After all, Nothing brings out kids’ thinking better than gameplay. Video games create networks of playful learning, which facilitates increased engagement. The biggest factor in this is video games meet students where they are, it just takes the right sort of educator to make the connection. Because video games are super dynamic, it gives educators opportunities to tie current events to the learning objectives. Video games promote growth mindsets and builds character, engagement and resilience. This impacts a students’ attitudes towards learning, as well as increases socioemotional health. Lastly, Video games develop technical skills, which offers students new career pathways in game design and development. As our participants go through the program, we will connect them to gaming eco systems. Video games encourage participation, which generates opportunities for students who do not otherwise participate in extracurricular activities through games clubs and esports.

I hold a deep passion for finding alternative solutions to traditional education & economic mobility within my community. My current experience is providing work in public schools as a DOE vendor & I am currently pursuing a M/WBE certification. Video games saved my life. I used video games to escape my own social, environmental & systemic oppression. I understand better than most the cons & myths & how to harness its true value. As a 10+ seasoned video game console ludologist, I have taken my professional & personal experiences to incorporate them into the perfect medium for educational learning & interactive entertainment. I am fully committed to this life's work of providing educational, social, & financial opportunities to BIPOC who spend most of their time playing, watching or studying video games. With MIT Solves network help, Finally, those who are often underrated, misunderstood, & often overlooked can now have the chance to be seen & respected by peers, family & society. Not only I am a Red Hook native of 19 years, I also work at the heart of RH's social service community center that has been around for 19 years. There, I facilitate and oversee professional development training & comprehensive case management for young adults yearly. I develop internship placements for young adults at local business sites. I have a deep-rooted understanding of what my community desires since I work directly with youth & adults of the community. I learned that my community loves social gathering events. I want to continue to bring people together. I have at least 5 years of experience developing & supporting enrichment programming. My approach to leadership is to use social gathering events to build rapport with the community to gain their trust & confidence. For the past 2 years, I have been partnering with local community schools & organizations to provide gamification experiences & tournament events to increase social gathering events that my community specifically asked for.

No only to I want to raise funds but I also want to contribute to the findings around how video games can booster learning and career attainment . I believe working with other MIT solvers can help support mapping this cause out.  

Very few organizations on the east coast in NYC is looking at Game Development as a career that more BIPOC communities need to be involved in despite it being a high yielding and growth market sector. Having more BIPOC members in game development will shift the representation of video games. Often, we adventure games having the generic cis white male as the lead character. Our youth need to see multiple versions of what a hero can look like and doing this will shape perspective and confidence outside of a game as well.

1. We will know that we are successful when there's an increase of HS students from our program who attain college in pursue of with a game development degree.
   1. We will achieve this goal by working with community centers who have participants that are committed to enrolling students into college. 
2. We will know we are successful when there's a increase of reporting game consoles per house hold in the red hook community. 
   1. We will measure this by the amount of consoles we provide and the amount of people we served with our services.
3. We will know that we are successful when there's an increase of sponsored organized e sporting events in the community 
   
   1. We will measure this by supporting the coordination of each of these events and count them and the money raised 

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all regardless of access to interactive entertainment. 

The objective of the curriculum is to empower at least 250 youth in DOE school communities of NYC yearly by using video games to identify & connect to their creative & technical latent talents. Video games can help capture the direct structure of how youth interact, experience, & develop through the progression of their lives. The priority of this program is to create a physical space where youth can understand their cognitive behaviors through art-based gamifying programs so that their social, intellectual & emotional resiliency increases. Our program will help youth explore creative passions by infusing game skill attributes such as motor skills, geometrics and diagram mapping with life skills like risk assessment, strategic planning, and teamwork. Our vision is for participants to engage with video games in a thought-provoking way; not just through interactive entertainment.

Draft Fantasy Electronic Sports (DFeS) Playbook Technology - GameGlory offers a product of fantasy sport features and benefits to its site members. A fantasy sport, also known as rotisserie or owner simulation or roto, is an online game that allows end-users to own a fantasy sports team made up of real-life players. The performance of the fantasy sports team depends on the real-life performance of these players. Our product addresses demand in this market by offering amateur gamers a chance to have their metrics recorded. Also, we will provide gamers with a form of payment opportunities. GameGlory's primary product uses players' stat data to wager on the performance outcomes that our end users decide in leagues. 

Game Glory actively engages individuals from all backgrounds and is committed to embracing diversity across all areas and aspects of the organization. We firmly believe that an atmosphere of civility and mutual respect towards individual differences and embracing an inclusive and equitable environment is indispensable to building a successful organization, contributing to a positive and meaningful employment experience for staff, and advancing the best possible outcomes for the clients served by Game Glory’s programs. We are also committed to community hiring and supporting the job prospects of Red Hook residents. As an equal opportunity employer, GameGlory is committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified individuals and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and expression, disability, age, marital status, military status, veteran status, pregnancy, parental status, genetic information, or any other characteristic or basis prohibited by applicable law.

Game Glory LLC is an e-sports entertainment and educational gaming service company. The company provides its users with Sportsbook performance management, e-sport gaming event opportunities, gamification classes, and IT support services.

Offerings include Business to Business (B2B) partnerships and collaborations with NYC’s DOE public schools, private charter schools, sponsorships with local businesses/organizations, and luxurious venue spaces in NYC. Business to Consumer (B2C) products offer Fantasy Sports Video Gamer Metrics and e-sport Leagues. The B2C services are interactive gamification classes, e-sport gaming tournaments, and IT support services. 

• Draft Fantasy Electronic Sports (DFeS) Sportsbook is a user to user platform interface that allows peers to wager on performance outcomes and metrics of amateur and professional gamers. Gamers and peers will sign up through the app and website to win prizes in the leagues.

• Leagues also include physical tournament events where gamers can compete with other gamers at our partner venue spaces or at public schools. The digital leagues consist of doing sportsbook player management of gamers. As a site member or visitor, you can wager on the performance outcome metrics of the gamers by the stats they produce against their competitor.

• We have Gamification courses with a customized curriculum taught through coaching sessions. The trainers will coach on gaming tactics & educational values through the use of various video gameplay experiences.

• The Game Glory’s IT support service team maintains the integrity of our client’s computer networks by providing technical support and ensuring the IT infrastructure runs efficiently.

Video Game Leagues - End users can participate in the fantasy sports leagues for free; however, if they wish to start a prize-earning league, they must pay league fees. The users can either pay an entry fee or get an annual/monthly subscription fee to host a league. The user can join and create as many leagues as they choose. The website and app is a tool that will allow users to follow the progress and management of their team players. The technical aspects that distinguish GameGlory from the rest of its fantasy sports competitors are two factors. First, our unique algorithm that determines a player's rank is being patent protected. The application programming interface (API) data that we get from game development companies will allow us to produce this algorithm. We will present that data in a user-friendly version for users to visualize. Second, we allow paid sponsored professional gamers to join as well as amateur gamers. Our competitors are all exclusively working with sponsored e-sport users. This allows us to work with amateurs and enable them to have a pathway to fame and finance. 
Membership subscriptions start at $5.00 a month
We aim to have at least 225 paid users on the platform by the end of the fiscal year. 

Ive obtain Money from DOE contracts, Works Progress Program through the majors office and grants sure as the small business FB start up and from tournament events, where I was able to pay interns and workers. Most of those interns are now workers that I pay.