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Langley high school students are game for helping younger kids

Walnut Grove Secondary students designed and made games then had elementary students test them out.
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Walnut Grove Secondary students constructed games and set up an arcade at James Kennedy Elementary recently. This is the sixth year for the interactive project. (Shaulene Burkett/Black Press)

A little boy in Los Angeles inspired Walnut Grove Secondary students to create a games arcade.

For the sixth year in a row, WGSS has done Caine’s Arcade, named for a little American boy who had made a cardboard arcade in his father’s used auto parts store.

“No one ever came to use the arcade,” said WGSS teacher Martha McKay.

Then someone posted a video online and it went viral with thousands showing up to play.

WGSS picked up on the idea and this year 48 students in Grade 8 and some senior students from the science and computer classes fashioned their own arcade games.

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“Our first day in class we watch the two videos about Caine’s Arcade and then we give them time to brainstorm their own ideas. We also talk about the previous five years of games that have been done and the senior student leaders share their experiences from when they did Caine’s Arcade in Grade 8,” McKay said.

“The students then choose what type of game they are going to construct. We ensure that there is minimal overlap on types of games and that there is lots of variety at the arcade. Then we discuss the idea of themes and how important they are to attract the younger students to their game. They choose their own theme but no two groups can have the same theme.”

This year’s election proved a boon for the project. One of the parents grabbed a bunch of discarded election campaign signs which were useful for the construction.

Caines’ Arcade is not simply a classroom exercise.

The second step of the program is putting the games to the test.

They set up an arcade in the James Kennedy Elementary gym last week.

“The GatorPod students are responsible for running their game, maintaining it through many uses, and distributing tickets for how well the younger students did when trying their game,” she said.

By the end of the day, about 500 elementary students had been through the arcade.

“After the last student has left, our GatorPod students are tired and happy to dismantle their games after such a long and exciting morning,” the teacher said.

“The cardboard also takes a beating with so much use.”

The arcade brings into play several skills and school subjects, namely English, social studies, science and computers. But McKay said there’s also added benefits to the students.

Caine’s Arcade is one of the most memorable events of the year for the GatorPod 8 students, she said. They use their creativity, ingenuity, initiative, problem-solving, time-management, and communication skills with each other and the younger students.

“Watching them interact with the primary students is one of my favourite parts of the whole project,” she noted.

“They are high school students showing so much care and enthusiasm to these little kids.”

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Walnut Grove Secondary students constructed games and set up an arcade at James Kennedy Elementary recently. This is the sixth year for the interactive project. (Shaulene Burkett/Black Press)
14499286_web1_181122-LAD-WGSSArcade_3
Walnut Grove Secondary students constructed games and set up an arcade at James Kennedy Elementary recently. This is the sixth year for the interactive project. (Shaulene Burkett/Black Press)
14499286_web1_181122-LAD-WGSSArcade_2
Walnut Grove Secondary students constructed games and set up an arcade at James Kennedy Elementary recently. This is the sixth year for the interactive project. (Shaulene Burkett/Black Press)


Heather Colpitts

About the Author: Heather Colpitts

Since starting in the news industry in 1992, my passion for sharing stories has taken me around Western Canada.
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