April News for Pixel Arts Volunteers

Get involved! Spring showers keep us smiling.

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Puddle jumping our way to success

Since July 2013, we have leapfrogged from 2-day to 5-day camps and now continuous, bi-weekly classes. We've drawn a strong breathe to jump forward again.

On April 5th, we hosted our first Game Exploratorium for the Rob Ingram Youth Summit Against Violence. We are confirmed in Summer for camps at 3 Multnomah County Libraries and at Portland Community College.

Our community of game changers continues to grow with 14 new volunteers since January. We are 70+ volunteers, who are gearing up to offer more programs and further extend our locations. Expect a surge of new opportunities as Spring unfolds!

Chatter of the Month:
"I just personally want to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation for your AMAZING work on Sat. I have heard nothing bet great things about your workshops and engagement with leaders in the late afternoon. It was such a gift for the MYC to be able to partner with you and we hope this relationship continues into the future." Marc Fernandes, Multnomah Youth Commission.

Game Exploratorium! A youth-led effort for world-making change

On April 5th, Pixel Arts hosted 11 social impact and empathy games for the 3rd Annual Rob Ingram Youth Summit Against Violence. Organized by the Multnomah Youth Commission and their Youth Against Violence Committee, the Summit gathers hundreds together to help end violence directed toward youth.

At the Game Exploratorium, more than 70 youth participated in 2 sessions and discussed their relationships with video games and violence. For information about the Game Exploratorium and the games, read more here!

Tetris Documentary Screening & Games at the Theater!

Join PIGSquad and Pixel Arts in a free screening of Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters & playing videogames on a theater screen!

Where: 5th Avenue Cinema, 510 SW Hall Street, Portland, Oregon 97201

When:
6:15pm: Play Tetris
7pm: Movie Screening â€“ Ecstasy of Order
9pm: More games â€“ Tetris Attack, Hard Lander, and more!

For more about the film: "Tetris. Weâ€™ve all played it, rotating the pieces (â€œtetrominoesâ€) and dropping them in the perfect place, or despairing as we discover a piece wonâ€™t fit. You may have even joked about â€œmasteringâ€ the game during a stint of unemployment, or as a child, before you could afford any other Game Boy cartridges. But what about the people whoâ€™ve truly mastered Tetris? Where are the Kasparovs and Fischers, the great champions whoâ€™ve dedicated their minds to solving its deepest puzzles?"

April Open House

Join us April 20th for our monthly Open House! Starting at 2pm, we will open the doors to our new office at the Flux Hackerspace for parents, youth, volunteers, and those interested in the community to meet our team, try the game making tools we use at camps, and play locally created games.

Be sure to stay until 4pm for our Information and Orientation Session if youâ€™re interested in volunteering.

If you are a local maker or developer interested in showcasing an activity or project for attendees, please contact us at info@GameEducationPDX.com!

For information on parking and entry.

When: April 20th, 2-6pm
Where: 412 NW Couch #222, Portland, OR 97209-3880

Inspire: New generations of game creators!

Last semester, Aubrey, Jonathan, Paul and Bryan were super star mentors at SEI. This month, we're happy to welcome Alex, Eli, Yori, Steve, Rryan, Nicholas, Shail, and Johnny to the community team. Join our community and volunteer for upcoming events!

Imagine New Worlds, Multnomah County Libraries

Connect youth love of reading and story with games. Explore, discover and build story games in analog and digital with Twine and SNAP. Multiple locations June to August. Information on our June volunteer training for these camps will be sent out soon!

Gresham Library, June 23-27 3pm-5pm
Troutdale Library, August 18th-22nd 2pm-4pm
Sellwood Library, August 25th-29th 12:30pm-2:30pm

Make Your World with Games, Portland Community College

"Become a game developer using hands-on methods to design your own characters, art assets, game mechanics, and music in a game prototype! Learn visual programming skills in SNAP and Stencyl, 2d game art in GIMP, and music with Beepbox."

PCC Summer schedules will be posted soon. Volunteers interested in helping facilitate the class are welcome to apply at any time.

When: July 7-17th. Mon, Tue, and Wed; 3:00-5:50 PM.
Where: W Campus or East 82nd Ave Satellite Campus

SEI Summer Camp

Late July to early August, you are invited to help host a 5-day learning expo in game making. We will help youth create pathways with sound, sculpture, story, programming, graphics and other creative story-telling skills.

Help Pixel Arts sprout up!

Share Pixel Arts with friends and champions! Become part our 1st Ambassador and Giving Circle.

Help grow our tax-deductible donations and build bridges across digital divides for underserved youth.

Pixel Arts at SEI Enhancement Day

On March 24th, we participated in a Self Enhancement Inc. "Enhancement Day" to encourage further learning in STEM and STEAM fields in a school activities faire! We helped youth explore storytelling through make-your-own trading cards based on the games our students created last semester, create a Flappy Bird game in a game programming module, and modify images found online with pixel art.

This was a great opportunity to get SEI youth excited for our upcoming ASP classes, recently titled "Game Makers: Graphics, Stories, and Sound" and "Game Makers: Programming." Youth will have the chance to learn a wide variety of game development, technology, and team building skills through these new tracks, encouraging cross-disciplinary work through hands-on, project-based learning.

We're so excited to experiment with this new curriculum to see how we can further develop our learning and volunteer communities and branch out to create new ones!

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