Timeframe: 2 days (Game Jam: 5-hour development window)

Participants: 25+ high school and college students.

Focus: Social–Emotional Learning (SEL) through rapid game development and emotional storytelling using a custom Unity no-code template.

Highlights & Outcomes:

- Built a custom Unity no-code game template from scratch using C#, allowing students to create a full SEL-themed game in under 5 hours with zero coding experience.

- Designed a Signal-based interaction system enabling doors, triggers, animations, dialogue, and puzzles entirely through Unity’s inspector.

- Created a comprehensive Game Jam Guidebook with tutorials, workflows, and implementation examples.

- Recorded step-by-step Unity walkthrough videos for students and volunteers.

- Guided teams in collaborating through GitHub version control during development.

Timeframe: 10 weeks. (IN-PROGRESS)

Students: 15 high school students.

Focus: Advanced Unity & C# through multi-project development.

Highlights & Outcomes:

- Used a custom Unity 3D arcade-style template I designed for the course.

- Created three interconnected mini-games focused on player movement, inventory systems, and AI navigation.

- Learned advanced C# concepts including Scriptable Objects, UI management, and optimization.

- Documented their development process through daily blogs and Google Sites portfolios.

- Published their complete game collections on Itch.io and presented them at a public showcase.

Timeframe: 5 weeks.

Students: 20 high school students.

Focus: From analog foundations to digital game design, art, and coding fundamentals.

Highlights & Outcomes:

- Designed a remix game and an original analog board game.

- Learned GIMP to create custom digital art assets.

- Built narrative games in Twine using variables, conditionals, events, HTML/CSS/JavaScript.

- Maintained daily blog posts, a Google Site portfolio, and published projects on Itch.io.

- Presented final projects at a community showcase.

Timeframe: 12 weeks.

Students: 17 middle & high school students.

Focus: Unity & C# foundations.

Highlights & Outcomes:

- Used a 3D survival game template from the Unity Asset Store as a starting point.

- Learned core game development skills: C# scripting, player movement, AI, UI, lighting, and animation.

- Designed their own custom survival games, each with unique mechanics and features.

- Published projects on Itch.io and presented at a public showcase for families and industry guests.

Timeframe: 2 quarters.

Students: 60+ middle school students.

Focus: Core computer science principles with an introduction to app and web development.

Highlights & Outcomes:

- Learned the four pillars of computing: input, output, storage, and processing.

- Built apps in Code.org App Lab addressing social issues such as gun violence, bullying, and food disparity.

- Introduced to HTML & CSS for web development in the second quarter.

- Developed presentation, teamwork, and problem-solving skills throughout the semester.