Many people like playing video games, whether on their phones, on chromebooks instead of paying attention to class, or at home on consoles or computers. I think I speak for all of us when I say I never expected to see a teacher tell kids to play video games. Even so, next year Wyoming High School will have an Esports team.
This may seem like it’s coming out of nowhere, but it’s actually been in development for a while. “We've been preparing to launch our Esports program for about 9 months now, however, I have been running the Wyoming Gaming Club in some capacity for 5 years.” Mr. Vanenk said, “This was our planning year where we tested a number of factors such as hardware, software, tournament format, etc.”
You also may be curious why this is happening. “I decided to make the team because so many of my students played video games, board games, and Dungeons & Dragons and were asking for a place to play after school.” Mr. Vanenk mentioned, “I also have a background in building computers and gaming which was a perfect fit.”
Now that you know a bit about it, you may be wondering how much students care. “The team roster isn't official but we have 65 high school students interested for the season next year.” Mr. Vanenk stated, “Our survey for 7th & 8th grade Esports isn't complete yet but we expect that number to be 40 or more students.”
Now, a student’s take on the club. “As an original member of the club, I'm excited to see it expand and get bigger and better.” Eduardo Ramirez noted, “It will be a great opportunity and fun.”
This project wasn’t set up by Mr. Vanenk alone, however. "First off, all of our Gaming Members were a huge help in testing, creating, and building everything about the club and Esports team.” he remarked, “Second, Mr. Amelse (8th Grade Science Teacher) came on as a Club and Esports Manager this year and has done an amazing job building the program.”
I’ll leave you off with some words of gratitude from Mr. Vanenk towards those who made this project possible. “Shoutout to the Wyoming Technology Department and multiple donors for supporting this project.” He said, “They are a major reason why we can have such a comprehensive program.”