New York Videogame Critics Circle is a non-profit organization with the mission to bring in the top videogame critics, writers, reporters and bloggers in the city. To help those looking to get into the video game industry, it is offering its first summer journalism course with the help from The DreamYard Project.
The daily summer course takes place in The Bronx where it will be helping out underserved high school students. The classes will help them prepare for a career in the video game journalism industry.
“This is a giant step forward in what has been a first-of-its-kind partnership for our non-profit organization,” said New York Videogame Critics Circle president and board president, Harold Goldberg. “Investing time and energy into these students, who will be the gaming journalists and narrative designers of the future, is highly rewarding; we can’t wait to see the students thrive in, and outside of the classroom.”
NYVGCC’s Imad Khan and Stefanelli Romano will be teaching the daily journalism course that includes the basic of games journalism, games narrative and the passion for expression via writing. Khan has written for ESPN and The Washington Post, and Romano is an educator from Bronx High School of Business.
“We have 25 eager students from three schools taking the new summer journalism course, and they’re so eager to learn,” said Romano. “We’re all going to work hard to make this program a great success, one that can be scaled to work in other schools throughout the city, as well.”
Starting this summer, the BX Start course will last for 6 weeks and will cater to the 25 students in the Bronx school area.
Guest speakers include:
- Adam Sessler, former G4TV editor-in-chief
- Cecilia D’Anastasio, Kotaku’s award-winning investigative journalist
- Arda Orcal, ESPN esports host
- Sherri Smith, Tom’s Guide’s assistant managing editor
- Elizabeth Ballou, Game creator and NYU Game Center graduate student
