WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As the school year winds down, one group of students is gearing up for a big competition.
The Retro Rams esports team from Palm Beach Lakes High School is heading to the Electronic Gaming Federation National Championship in Orlando next month. Students will compete in a variety of games, including Rocket League, Super Smash Brothers and Street Fighter.
Playing video games in class may seem a little counterproductive, but for the Retro Rams at Palm Beach Lakes High School, it's all in a day's work.
Esports director Julius Edwards started the program in 2019 with 10 students after school. Now, there are more than 400 students who participate in the digital media technology classes and esports club.
"It's inspirational. Our whole goal was to get students, who normally weren't engaged in school, engaged into STEM-like careers and activities," Edwards says.
Edwards is a self-proclaimed gamer himself and saw the need for it at school.
"We knew there was a catch somewhere that we had to grab them. And once we started putting game design and gaming art into our digital media program, we saw an influx of kids come in rapidly," Edwards said. "Some kids never thought school was fun, and now they are looking like, hey, I could be part of this, I could have a career, I could do something outside of here."
With a state-of-the-art gaming lab, students can earn industry certifications, setting them up for successful careers in engineering, software design, digital art and so much more. The Digital Media Technology Scholastic Esports program focuses on digital media, gaming development, and entrepreneurship. Students can earn up to five industry certifications through the four-year Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathway.
Edwards said community support has made the program, and its expansion, possible.
"Without the Education Foundation (of Palm Beach County), without the Pew Foundation, some of the leaders in the district to say, hey we want to actually try this, and we're going to try our best to build and see what will happen," he said. "And then to see the growth—it's important to get those partners into i,t because we need to sustain it."
Student Michael Byfield is heading to the national competition to play a game called Rocket League.
"I never thought about games like this that I could be making almost a living off it," he said.
He moved to Florida from Jamaica just a few years ago.
"I'm really happy I'm part of this, because it can help my mom, if I get scholarships, because she won't have to pay for college," said Byfield, who hopes to build video games someday.
Beckham Llewellyn just graduated from Palm Beach Lakes and hopes to attend Keiser University to study graphic design. He'll compete in Super Smash Brothers in next month's competition.
"I learned video games aren't just for fun but good for reaction speed and motivation to come to school. I used to not do good in school. I used to get Ds and now I'm an honor roll student," he said. "I feel excited. I'm ready to showcase my skills and beat other good players (at nationals)."
So while esports is allowing kids to express themselves through activities that don't feel like traditional classwork, it's also showing them how far those skills can carry them.