When acrylic painting was added to The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in the 1950s, it was described as a “groundbreaking new technology.” Over the years we’ve added new categories – think Computer Graphics in the ‘90s – and this program year, for the first time ever, we invited aspiring teen video game designers to submit work to The Awards. We’re thrilled to announce a grant in support of the video game category from our newest partner, AMD Foundation. What does this mean for students and teachers? Scholarships, outreach, workshops and more!

Our new partnership with AMD Foundation will help teens in grades 7-12 learn or improve their skills in game design and development by bringing together students, teachers and industry professionals around the country with interactive workshops. Students (and their mentors!) can learn more about the creative process, tools and technologies involved with creating a working, playable game. Plus, we’ll have more cash and scholarship awards for college and summer programs.

Increasingly, educators, businesses, researchers and developers have been investing in video games as educational tools, and leading the way are companies like AMD with initiatives such as Changing the Game. But what it’s really all about is giving people the tools to build their own virtual worlds, share their work with others and learn a little bit about science, technology, education and math along the way. We say we’re all about creativity, art and writing – and those just happen to be key ingredients in making a good game. Next year, we expect to receive 700 submissions to our video category. Bring it on, and stay tuned for the results of this year’s national winners!

You can learn more about our new partnership here.