By Gunnison Pagnotta
From educational podcasts with Microsoft, to riding the nationwide wave that is Esports, GOAL High School continues to make strides in creative implementation of technology in education.
Last year GOAL held the honor of being the “Biggest Impact School for the Americas.” This year, Microsoft not only renewed GOAL’s status, but also approved Chief Information Officer, Jamie Trujillo for another year serving on the Showcase School Global Advisory Board. Now in forty locations across Colorado — including Pagosa Springs — GOAL is in the fourth year of its Esports program. Coaches Scott Elliot, Central Region Principal and J.C. Spencer, social studies teacher are beyond impressed and excited as the program grows by leaps and bounds.
Support at the executive level is strongly in place, with C.I.O. Trujillo and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Constance Jones backing the program 100%. These leaders, not just of GOAL, but of the technological metamorphosis in education worldwide, joined Microsoft last year in broadcasting podcasts on the “how to” of utilizing technology in education.
Trujillo lays it out plainly.
“Everything we do is centered around technology. If we, as a school, are not preparing our students for that life, and really making them more productive members of society through the technology that we’re using in their lives, then what are we doing? Are we doing it right?”
Trujillo, Jones, and the coaches are more than willing to take on the “just playing games” claims when taking a closer look at the increase in school engagement statewide. According to Coach Spencer, there were over 300 students signed up for the High School Esports League last year. This intramural and inter-scholastic aspect of gaming has caused completely disengaged high-schoolers to “come out of the woodwork – and the basement” to re-engage with classmates, academic coaches, teachers, and . . . their education . . . but that’s not all.
Beyond the club and intramural level, students can compete interscholastically. In fact, GOAL handily dismantled all other teams in the state in the High School Gaming League in 2019 and that the benefits of the program are far-reaching. Spencer mentions the ability to reconnect with “hard to reach students,” while Principal Elliot reflects on the reduction of “at risk factors” amongst students who become actively engaged. He cites one specific example of a completely disconnected freshman student who was “taken under the wings of senior students” as he participated with them on their ESports Team, allowing him to “come out of his shell” and to flourish academically.
Students are seeing the big picture as well. One of the State Champions shared, “Esports participation helps us work on things that are really important, like team-building and problem-solving.” Another teammate chimed in, “I wish we could have done this a long time ago” as it has “given [him] the push needed to do better academically.”
Modern educators are beginning to agree that students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care… about what they care about…
The addition of several games including Minecraft, League of Legends, and Rainbow Siege has added to the number of interested students. Coach Spencer points out that “students have to engage with each other in meaningful collaboration to move forward successfully in accomplishing a common goal.”
Victory – whether in the gaming world or the real world strongly lends itself to GOAL’s mission – to develop productive members of society. By engaging the affective portion of the brain, that which students love, the cognitive functions come alive. By proxy, students become successful in their academic endeavors.
Gunnison Pagnotta is Senior Communications Manager for GOAL High School.