AMD Foundation teams with World Wide Workshop to double number of students learning game design at Southwest Key's East Austin College Prep Academy

AMD Foundation teams with World Wide Workshop to double number of students learning game design at Southwest Key's East Austin College Prep Academy

- AMD also announces separate grant to Southwest Key for new 30-PC computer lab, two technology staff positions -

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -4/5/2010

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the AMD Foundation, in support of AMD Changing the Game, has awarded grants to the World Wide Workshop Foundation and the Southwest Key Programs. The grants will enable Southwest Key's East Austin College Prep Academy (EACPA) to add a new grade and double the number of students participating in the World Wide Workshop Foundation's cutting-edge Globaloria game-design program. Additionally, AMD will fund a second technology laboratory for students, featuring 30 HP notebooks with AMD processors and ATI graphics. This is the second consecutive year the foundation has awarded grants to these beneficiaries. These grants together total approximately $243,000.

"Southwest Key programs are about opening doors and breaking down barriers for children by providing educational possibilities that they wouldn't normally have access to in their community," said Dr. Juan Sanchez, President and CEO, Southwest Key. "The AMD Foundation and the Globaloria program had an enormously positive impact on students, inspiring and exciting them to learn. We were able to see students make great strides in their educational accomplishments and technological literacy, which we believe is largely due to this program."

The World Wide Workshop Foundation is a global foundation for developing educational technology applications that intertwine social media technology and game production. Globaloria is an intensive in-school game development curriculum and social networking platform that prepares students ages 13 and older from underserved communities to use technology to become active, socially conscious global cybercitizens.
The 2010 grants are given in support of AMD's signature education initiative, AMD Changing the Game. The initiative promotes social issue game development as a tool to inspire youth to learn, improve their science, technology, education and math (STEM) skills, and become more attuned to global social issues such as the environment, energy, public health and poverty.

"Today's youth are tomorrow's leaders. AMD Changing the Game and the Globaloria program share a goal of using technology, and particularly game development, to harness students' curiosity and creativity, boost their confidence, enrich their educational experience and expand their global awareness," said Allyson Peerman, president, AMD Foundation. "We commend Southwest Key's East Austin College Prep Academy for being such a pioneer in choosing to make this innovative game design program an integral part of their curriculum."

"In 2009 we partnered with the AMD Foundation and Southwest Key to launch the first ever comprehensive, school-wide game-design program for STEM learning at EACPA: Globaloria at EACPA. Our strong partnership resulted in a hugely successful program and fueled our desire to expand the program this year," said Dr. Idit Harel Caperton, Founder and President, World Wide Workshop Foundation. "We are proud to continue working to implement a program that is designed to enhance learning, innovation, entrepreneurship and an understanding of the world among students in the East Austin community."

The EACPA opened its doors in fall 2009 and is located in an area with predominantly low education levels. The school had 92 6th grade students last year and expects to more than double attendance this fall by adding a 7th grade class to its school. With the AMD grant, EACPA will not only continue the implementation of the Globaloria program, but also will establish a second technology lab, and hire a second Globaloria teacher and a full time Information Technology professional to support the program.

In the program's initial year at EACPA, students participated in intensive 90-minute daily units on game design, first mastering wiki and blogging tools, then conceiving and designing original educational Web games. Teams of five or six students worked together to develop a game concept that incorporates mathematics learning and explores a social issue. Research is ongoing to assess the overall impact of the Globaloria program on student STEM skill development. Long-term, the World Wide Workshop Foundation hopes the EACPA program will provide a model for integrating game literacy school-wide across the nation and the globe.

AMD Changing the Game

AMD Changing the Game is designed to take gaming beyond entertainment and inspire youth to learn critical education and life skills by equipping them to create digital games with social content. The program's purpose is to promote the use of youth game development as a tool to inspire learning and improve science, technology, education and math (STEM) skills. The initiative is rooted in AMD's commitment to and experience in supporting education, and the company's passion and expertise in the graphics processor and gaming industries.

Since its launch in June 2008, AMD Changing the Game has:

- Funded 15 organizations that enable youth game development
- Funded the development of a youth game development curriculum with PETLab and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA). Recently, BGCA chapters in Larimer County, Colorado and Marlborough, Massachusetts kicked off new "Game Tech" programs that teach club members how to understand game design and create their own games.
- Co-sponsored the Malaysian Cybergames Festival 2010, including the "Dare to Create" digital game design and development workshop
- Co-sponsored the 2008, 2009 and 2010 Games for Change Festival
- Funded an online toolkit to help nonprofits create games on social issues
- Sponsored a video contest with the Learning Games Network that explored the intersection of education and gaming


About the AMD Foundation

The AMD Foundation connects and empowers individuals with knowledge, thereby opening doors to opportunity. The Foundation's signature program, AMD Changing the Game, supports initiatives designed to help youth harness the power of digital games with social content, while learning critical Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills and life skills. The Foundation also funds the AMD Employee Giving Program which supports AMD employees' community interests by matching their personal donations of time and money to local organizations and schools.

Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 12:01 pm CDT