ACP Summer Program Concludes at The Armory
The Armory welcomed students back into the arena for the conclusion of Armory College Prep’s summer programming.
ACP’s six-week summer high school and middle school programs began remotely, with consistent video meetings four days per week. For the final two weeks of programming, students transitioned to The Armory for socially distant, masked, and CDC-compliant in-person sessions.
Read on about our Summer Program highlights!
“The summer program has been very fun and you get the chance to interact with new people that you don’t talk to usually. I have learned a lot about coding and making your own games. ”
Take-Two Interactive generously underwrote the Summer Program and provided students with wireless, noise-cancelling headphones for students to take home and enrich their focus.
Middle schoolers hand-wrote thank you notes and held up signs to express their gratitude. They also did not waste any time putting the headphones to use!
Thanks to New York Road Runners, all students received brand new New Balance sneakers so they have adequate support beneath them to stay active.
ACP’s middle school students primarily focused on:
1) designing video games by utilizing MIT’s educational Scratch software to code and story-tell, as well as the Gamestar Mechanic website to learn about game design principles.
2) learning the basics of stock market investing and the value of money through participating in the nationwide Stock Market Game competition.
In addition to these projects, which challenged students to work collaboratively and independently, students enjoyed trivia and discussing current events at the start of each session.
CODING & VIDEO GAME DESIGN
ACP Middle School students designed their own unique video games, featured below. (Click on a student’s game to see their work!)
Leah, grade 6
My Games for Change topic is Accessibility for all! I have learned how different video games have different settings you can change. If you have a certain disability you can change just one setting to be able to enjoy the game. Even if you don't have a disability, you can play around with the settings and see how it feels if you have a disability. What can make something better if it’s already popular? What might it be? The answer is accessibility, if you have a disability you will feel included, if not you will still be included. This game isn't just for those with a certain disability, but for all. This is what I have learned through my journey with Scratch!
William, grade 8
Games are meant to have a certain spontaneity of finding out the undiscovered; whether finding a secret cave in the open world of Los Santos in GTA V or finding the perfect block that fits in Tetris. Graphics only matter if the storyline is good. A game with good graphics but bad writing is reminiscent of a design team desperately grasping for an E3 convention. Finally, a game shouldn't be too easy at the beginning. Easy games lose the player's interest quickly, but games that become easier over time renew a sense of accomplishment in the player.
Sophia, grade 6
A good game is fun for must ages. It has to be fun, easy but has a little but of challenge in it. It shows also start of easy and then get harder each time you win.
Bruce, grade 7
My games for change topic is the human and animal bond. I learned how to use Scratch.
“Every great game has easy controls, fast paced missions, and easy and simple objectives. Anybody who makes a game must have patience...especially when using complex coding, not having patience may lead to failing when making a mistake. If they hadn’t had patience, they would’ve left the project uncompleted due to the stress caused by errors.”
Adam, grade 7
My favorite part about ACP Summer so far is the Scratch coding. It has helped me to learn so much about how games function and has lead me to make my own game. It has been really fun and I hope to continue my scratch journey when ACP Summer is over. My topic is a clean and happy earth and I have learned how to move a sprite using arrow keys, moving different sprites to different locations, and making my sprite fly. I would like to learn more about making games of different genres that include a variety of goals.
fresh air & movement
Students enjoyed lunch on yoga mats and light exercise (including multiple hula hooping competitions!) across from The Armory on Haven Plaza, part of the Columbia University Medical School campus.
ACP high school students worked on preparing for the college application process, studying for the SAT, polishing their resumes, practicing professional development, and performing a musical production. Like our middle school group, they partook in the Stock Market Game, a national competition.
“Throughout these weeks I enjoyed playing the stock market game a lot. I found it really interesting since I have never done anything like this before. I learned a lot during these weeks about stocks, such as the difference between market and limit pricing and buying/selling stocks. This was a learning experience for me.”
SUMMER SHOWCASE
The high school students that partook in a production of the musical Hamilton did so safely on-site at The Armory.
Musical numbers included:
“Alexander Hamilton” | “Aaron” | “My Shot” | “Tonight” | “The Schuyler Sisters “ | “You’ll Be Back” | “A Winter’s Ball” | “Helpless” | “Satisfied” | “History Has Its Eye On You” | “Yorktown” | “What Comes Next?” | “What’d I Miss?” | “Take A Break” | “Say No To This” | “One Last Time” | “Hurricane” | “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story”
Stay up-to-date with Armory College Prep on social media!
Follow @thearmoryfndn on Instagram and Twitter.
To share this article, click the icons below!