PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Students at Philadelphia’s Edison High School who behave well and get good grades can earn time in the school’s new e-gaming room.
Principal Lillian Izzard used the $20,000 she received last year as a Lindback award winner to outfit a little-used school room with flat screens, arcade games, furniture, and a colorful mural with a comic book vibe. She made the decision after speaking to her students.
“When I was awarded the $20,000, this would have been the best thing for them – to have a place for them to be able to gather,” Izzard told KYW Newsradio.
There’s only room for 15 students or so, in a school of nearly 1,000 students. So they earn game time by having good attendance, performing well academically and staying out of trouble. Senior Kevon Cottle says he spends about a half hour each week in the room. “Since I’m a senior, it’s like really stressful now. And the fact that I get to play some games inside school makes it fun.”
Students are rewarded with time in the game room by scoring points through the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support system. “I do my classwork, homework. Sometimes I just help other teachers just so they would give me points,” Cottle said.
Senior Damyan Santiago interrupted his Spider-Man game to say the game room provided a welcome break to bond with friends. “I’m often, like, trudging away on my senior project,” he said. “Coming into a nice place to release some steam is really great.”
The eSports room is purely for fun now, but Izzard hopes to eventually incorporate computer science education into the new game room.
