(Fellowship: Coordinator/Counselor)
Girls Make Games 2023-24
San Mateo Camp
This was my first camp with Girls Make Games, and I am thankful we were able to work directly at Crystal Dynamics.
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During camp, I chose to be the counselor for the youngest girls at camp (ages 8-9) since I have childcare experience, and they were so sweet! I taught them various topics from Construct 3 to game design to basic pixel art to music creation to block coding. Their attention spans swayed from time to time, so we would take lots of fun breaks. I also introduced outdoor time when I noticed the juniors had a hard sitting still during speakers which took away from their focus during development time. The time outside helped them let out any pent up restlessness and take in sunlight, so they could come back in ready to create!
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My girls "The Honey Game Squad" submitted "A Sticky Situation!" and received an honorable mention during Demo Day! The game incorporates local multiplayer gameplay, as well as art, music, and level design by each of the girls. (I was especially impressed by Penny's map for the underground lair!) I had to implement quite a bit of their ideas since I wanted to preserve their enjoyment of making games and prevent burnout. And at the end of the day, each of the girls wanted to be game developers when they grow up, so I did my job! :)
Rochester Camps
After San Mateo, a few of my coworkers and I were flown out to Rochester to host a one week camp partnering with Women in Games at The Strong National Museum of Play!​
This camp offered free participation for kids from Title 1 schools, so this camp resonated a lot with me as someone who was their age while my family was battling low income wages. I followed a similar lesson plan as the San Mateo camp but decided to change the camp schedule to include time for the girls to finish and publish their games. Most of the girls said they wouldn't be able to repurchase the Construct subscription after camp, so I wanted to ensure they were able to keep what they made.
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Then in 2024, I was offered the fellowship again but this time as a coordinator for the first 3-week camp at the Strong. We tried to use the same curriculum used for all the other camps, but many of these kids were not used to camps and learning programs that require focus for three weeks straight. As coordinator, I founded action plans and rules for our campers to combat conflicts that inhibited learning. I also worked with Regina from the Strong team to reward the girls with exhibit visits. It was plenty of conflict resolution and ensuring the enjoyment of everyone in camp, but I was relieved by the end to see three wonderful team games come out of the camp!
