TOWSON, MD. – Student teams from Chesapeake High School and Parkville High School took first place in the fourth annual Project L.i.V.E. (“Learning in Virtual Environments”) competition sponsored by Baltimore County Public Schools.
The winning teams emerged from among teams at six participating high schools who took up the challenge of creating, designing and building video game software that blends both virtual fun with the school system’s curriculum.
“The entries we saw were the most advanced ever this year,” said George Newberry, director of the BCPS Office of Science, preK-12. “The level of sophistication from these students was off the charts.”
Teams gathered May 1 at the school system’s Greenwood headquarters to learn who had won the top prizes, which included the opportunity to have their winning game design transformed by commercial gaming professionals into actual video games and used as learning tools in BCPS schools.
Taking first place for production both imagining and creating the game -- was “Red Room,” which was the brainchild of students at Chesapeake High School in Essex. “We decided to make this beautiful 1930s, film noir-esque story,” said teacher Justin Patterson.
Added Chesapeake forensics teacher Krystal Romanowski, “The students did an amazing job of incorporating what they learned in class into the game.”
As students presented their idea at the awards ceremony, student Tymisha McDaniels said, “We went through many trials and errors. The coding was the hardest part. We made so many errors. It was ridiculous, but we fixed them.”
Parkville’s team took the design presentation first place award for their story board called, “The Adventurous Adventures of Matthew,” in which eponymous BCPS student Matthew loses his homework and must navigate a series of questions and challenges looking throughout the school campus for his missing assignments. Along the way, he encounters obstructive gym teachers, circuitous ventilation shafts, and a giant squid.
“We wanted to create a game that dealt with all subjects and where you get to choose where to look for the homework,” said senior team member Cheyenne Perdue. “The idea that you could create a game where you can teach others was extremely interesting to us.”
Teams also competed from George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, Catonsville High School, Eastern Technical High School, and Pikesville High School. At the ceremony, students also got to hear from Max Remington, a designer with Breakaway Games in Baltimore County, and Jamie Bakert of Microsoft, who presented all competitors with gift certificates and one lucky student with a Microsoft Surface tablet.
Student award winners in the Project L.i.V.E. competition this year were:
Game DesignFirst place -- “The Adventurous Adventures of Matthew,” Parkville High School
- Kim Adkins
- Adam Austin
- Evan Buddenbohn
- Charles Chambers
- John Dardozzi
- Sean Denton
- Omar Fernandez
- Katya Fuson
- Joey Hunt
- Andrew Patoska
- Cheyenne Perdue
- Rashid Poole
- Ryan Ring
- Amanda Ambrose
- Darmindra Esau
- Alexis Kashner
- Brandon Mateer
- Caitlyn Mauricio
- Tymisha McDaniels
- Jacob Saporito
- Jazzman Simpson
- Samantha Thomas
- Josh Fox
- Justice Ibeawuchi
- Kelsey Jackson
- Nhi Luu
- Arden Qiu
- Sean Sanders
- Christopher Williams
- Kayla Zuromski
- Amanda Ambrose
- Darmindra Esau
- Alexis Kashner
- Brandon Mateer
- Caitlyn Mauricio
- Tymisha McDaniels
- Jacob Saporito
- Jazzman Simpson
- Samantha Thomas