Punxsutawney Students Advance to State Finals in Minecraft Build Challenge

A group of students from the Punxsutawney Area School District recently combined creativity, collaboration, and technology as they participated in a statewide Minecraft Build Challenge through the Pennsylvania Scholastic eSports League (PSEL).  A team of 6th graders from Punxsutawney Area Elementary School won the regional Middle School competition and will advance to the state finals.

 

 

The winning team, consisting of Truman Hill, Jase London, and Vincent Richardson, will now compete face-to-face with other teams from across the commonwealth in a timed build battle in Lancaster, PA, on February 6.

 

“I was very surprised to hear that we won!” stated London, shortly after hearing the news.

 

"I'm very excited that we get to go to states and be in a head-to-head competition," noted Hill.

 

“I’m very grateful!” added Richardson.

 

As a collaboration between the High School and Elementary buildings, PASD entered a total of three teams into the competition.  For the High School division, PAHS Senior John Hoover and Junior Jayden Vasbinder entered as a team.  A team of 7th Graders–Leo Skarbek and Becket Cannon–also competed in the Middle School division.

 

 

The build challenge officially launched on November 10, with final submissions due prior to December 23 when many schools went on break for the holidays.  All three Punxsutawney teams successfully completed and submitted their designs on time.

 

 

The PSEL’s challenge, titled “Building Pennsylvania’s Future Through Sustainable Agriculture,” tasked students with designing a future-ready farm capable of feeding and supporting a community.  Teams were encouraged to incorporate innovative ideas such as renewable energy sources and sustainable food systems.  They were then required to build a model of their designs within Minecraft Education Edition–a school-focused version of the popular game played by millions on PCs, tablets, and consoles at home.

 

The theme was selected by PSEL to connect to real-world initiatives, including Governor Josh Shapiro’s recent efforts to modernize agriculture in Pennsylvania through a $10 million Agriculture Innovation Program. The program aims to help farmers adopt new technologies and practices to strengthen food production and sustainability across the state.

 

“We learned a lot about farming in Pennsylvania.  We researched renewable energy and learned how farmers in Pennsylvania use it,” Hill, London, and Richardson explained. 

 

All three teammates agreed that “it was fun to use a game we play outside of school for an educational project.”

 

Starting with flat, open Minecraft worlds, each team built unique farm designs that featured elements such as solar panels, windmills, hydropower systems, vertical farm structures, automated processes, hydroponics, livestock areas, crop fields, and food storage facilities.

 

 

To complete the task, all three teams worked primarily in the new eSports lab at Punxsutawney Area High School, placing them among some of the first students to use the space and its newly installed PC gaming stations. 

 

“This was a great opportunity for our students, and it also gave us a chance to ‘play test’ some of the new equipment as we begin to officially roll out our after-school gaming club and eSports program here at PAHS,” explained Mr. Matthew Curry, Punxsutawney Area High School’s Tech Coach and head advisor for this new scholastic gaming initiative.   

 

Overseeing the Minecraft Build Challenge at the local level was a joint effort between Curry and the district’s Gifted Coordinators–Mrs. Mary Anne Fedder and Mrs. Sarah Peterson.  To learn more about Minecraft Education and how it can be effectively used in a school setting, the three advisors attended a virtual training in early November, provided by PSEL and Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit 5 in Edinboro. 

 

Minecraft Education Edition is used in classrooms worldwide to support instruction in subjects such as math, science, history, coding, and more.  This version of the game includes built-in tools for educators, including over 600 pre-built lessons and resources.  It also provides a secure, school-managed multiplayer environment where students join with a code provided by their teacher.  Minecraft Education also removes advertisements and in-game purchases and complies with student privacy laws, including COPPA.  For most schools, it is available as part of their Microsoft 365 subscription. 

 

“In education, we emphasize the value of creating meaningful, engaging learning activities for students,” Curry added.  “Scholastic eSports events like this offer another great way to meet that goal by allowing students to combine their passion for gaming with an intentional use of that interest to learn new things and develop new skills.”