This past month, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) welcomed the KB Foundation and 28 young people in its Philadelphia-based mentorship programs for a tour of FIEA facilities, offering a glimpse into the degrees available and potential future careers in the gaming industry. Students also had an opportunity to visit UCF’s main campus, UCF Downtown, Creative Village and Electronic Arts.
Since 2017, the KB Foundation has supported Philadelphia’s youth through educational experiences and mentorship. This immersive Orlando trip combined two of the organization’s programs to advance learning for its KB Foundation mentees, including youth from 20 high schools who have participated in college prep or lunch and learn programs since middle school. Founder and CEO Kirk Berry says that he wants the students who participate in the program to learn about careers through immersive experiences and make the right choices for their future.
“At the KB Foundation Inc., our approach to career exploration activities is about exposing our youth to what it is like for a day in the life of any given career,” Berry says. “Hearing about a career is one way to learn, but spending time doing a small part of the career is a more impactful way to learn about it.”
College Possible, an organization working to broaden educational opportunities for youths, also attended this exploratory Orlando field trip for KB Foundation mentees.
Tyler Cholminski, a high school junior and mentee, says the KB Foundation and College Possible programs are helping him prepare for his future.
“I just started with the program a month ago,” Cholminski says. “They have already taught me so much. More than just preparing for college, I’ve learned about life.”
The KB Foundation recognizes UCF’s strong ties to the gaming industry through its successful FIEA alumni, which inspired them to visit the university.
“This partnership came about because our vice president of operations and programming, Justin Fishman,” Berry says. “He saw it as an opportunity to give our youth an opportunity to experience an extremely specialized career field. Since the University of Central Florida has a direct career path to the gaming industry, it will show our youth what is required to pursue such a skilled profession.”
Berry says the trip will give students a fresh perspective on gaming, which already plays a significant part in many of their lives.
“This trip will have a tremendous impact on our youth because many of them play games and only participate as consumers,” Berry says. “The opportunity to learn about the pathway into this specific industry will be life-changing for the students.”
During the students’ trip to FIEA, they had the opportunity to listen to executive director Ben Noel speak about what their future could look like with a career in gaming.
“FIEA has one of the top graduate programs in gaming for the past six years,” Noel says. “Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and Iron Galaxy are all up the street from us. Twenty years ago, game development was not prevalent in Downtown Orlando. Today, there are 2,500 developers working in Orlando. Things like this happen in cities when they really focus on doing things.”
After Noel finished his talk with the students, they had the opportunity to tour FIEA to immerse themselves in the technology utilized for game development and education.
Students learned about the technology and work that goes into creating virtual reality games and, through a demo, stepped onto the sets of popular shows, movies, and games such as Mario Kart, Harry Potter, and Stranger Things.
Students went behind the scenes to learn more about the magic behind motion capture and try it for themselves. They geared up in motion capture suits and showcased their basketball skills on the court and the big screen.
Rahim Gardner, a sophomore attending high school in South Philadelphia, shares why this trip means so much to him.
“This experience means the world to me because I was granted the opportunity to come here,” he says. “I’m learning a lot, and I get to see what is outside of Philadelphia in the world.”
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