‘I found my people’

Seven Oaks

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This article was published 24/01/2024 (615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On the top floor of the Seven Oaks Exchange Met School campus, a group of high school students talk amongst themselves in nervous anticipation of their final presentations.

These aren’t typical high-school presentations, though. This is Tech Hub, and each student’s presentation contains an entire semester — sometimes multiple semesters — of work.

The first presentation of the day contains original animation. The second, music. Others are on programming. Each presentation is different from the last — but all are delivered with an equal amount of confidence.

Tech Hub is a holistic, project-based program of the Seven Oaks School Division, in partnership with New Media Manitoba and Flighty Felon Games. It gathers Grade 9 to 12 students from Garden City, The Maples, and Seven Oaks, and gives them the reins to complete a long-term project using game development and tech software. Alongside these personal ventures, they’re also given the chance to lend their skills to a larger video game project. Throughout the term, they receive guidance from mentors, as well as gaming industry professionals.

This year, the team of students completed a survival game featuring original character designs, dialogue, soundtrack, and graphics. Players of the game are sent on a journey through a fog-infested world, where they must gather a team and defeat any monster that steps into their path. Students from anywhere on-campus were invited to play-test the game.

The program was kick-started four years ago by former SOSD assistant superintendent Matt Henderson, who is now superintendent of Winnipeg School Division. Since it’s been active, it’s been co-ordinated by Monica Gadsby, an SOSD teacher.

The program gives students a chance to incorporate their identities into their creations, she explained in a paper written on the program’s growth.

Students in the program aren’t necessarily typical academic achievers, she wrote.

“Despite their struggles in conventional classes, they found a sense of belonging within the program. Coining the terms ‘authentically valid’ and ‘undoubtedly genuine,’” which would go on to become terms of endearment throughout the semester.

Aiden Desjarlais, 17, was recommended for the program by a student counsellor, following a struggle in regular school. He took part in Tech Hub for the first time in Grade 10 and is now about to graduate.

“Honestly, I couldn’t pinpoint what I like about it,” he said. “I do like it more than, say, normal learning in school, because you get to you get to interact with things. It’s not, you know, writing or anything like that. You’re actually doing something.”

“There’s just so much you get to learn,” he continued. “It’s unreal. It’s still unreal to me. You get to learn 3D modelling, technical artist stuff, game development, programming. I could go on. For some people, it’s not up their alley, but, for others, it’s right up their alley and it’s an amazing program.”

“I strongly believe that you learn by doing it, right,” said Kale Asperin, a Grade 12 student who now volunteers his after-school hours to help the others.

“If you just study up on theory, you’re probably gonna study as much as you can for the exam and then forget about it right after, but since we’re doing game development … if you learn to do stuff, you tend to learn a lot more because you’re doing it — and you can do the same process over and over,” Asperin said.

Desjarlais and Asperin both plan to go into post-secondary tech-related studies; in game development and information technology, respectively.

”You’re working along an indie game development studio. You’re knowing what this has the potential to be, and also you’re building your resumé and your digital portfolio,” Gadsby said. “And so when you enter college, you have a game that you created, you can show them what you did in that game … If you notice, none of these kids are showing me (the final game). They’re showing me what they did.”

To learn more about Tech Hub, visit www.7oaks.org