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Esports Partnership Is A Game Changer For The Skills Center
Students At Gateway Christian Academy Get Gold Medal In Vocal
CELESTE ROBERTS ...Executive Director The Skills Center
Ensemble Competition
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
Exciting news for a Tampa based non-profit. The Skills Center, a Tampa based non- profit providing academic and leadership success through the power of sports has formed a partnership with High Point Gamer, a Tampa-based esports con- sulting firm that assists in the implementation of esports programming; and Stradiva-
DEREK WATFORD ...CoFounder of High Point Gamer
rius Consulting, a Miami, FL based sports business devel- opment consulting firm.
The partnership will sup- port the advancement of edu- cational opportunities around esports by building skills that create economic empower- ment and sustainable career opportunities for young peo- ple through the power of gaming.
Esports (also known as electronic sports) is a form of competition using video
MICHAEL PENFIELD ...Principal / CEO · Stradivarius Consulting
games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multi- player competitions. Esports have revolutionized the video game industry, with many op- portunities for players, game developers, graphic designers and providing funding for tournaments and other events.
After Super Bowl LV, the Forever Young Foundation, founded in 1993 by NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young in partnership with Jerry Rice, awarded The Skills Center with an “8 to 80 Zone.” The zones provide technology and multimedia labs for those living in underserved com- munities.
The zones offer the chance for artistic expression but just as importantly, encourage students to gain training on industry-standard equipment and software in the areas of television, radio, voice recording, graphic design, and game development.
The 8 to 80 zone will be built at The Skills Center campus with state-of-the-art equipment.
The other two partners, High Point Gamer and Stradivarius Consulting, will be helping to build the cur- riculum for the zone so that every experience is a learning event.
“Esports is a game changer for our kids,” said Celeste Roberts, Executive Director of The Skills Center. “We must adapt and engage them in a constructive envi- ronment so they can benefit from Esports.
“We are big consumers of video games, but we need to know how to monetize our skill set.”
The Trio returned to Tampa as Gold Medal winners. From left to right: Ms. Maldanado, Principal; Trio members - Rodney Mathis, Jr., Giuliano Virissimo, and Antwaun Underwood, III; and Robson Gal- vao, Choir Director.
BY GWEN HAYES Sentinel Editor
The Trio of students from Gateway Christian Academy earned a Gold Medal last weekend in the category of Vocal Ensemble.
They joined students from around the state to par- ticipate in the Florida League of Christian Schools Academ- ics and Fine Arts Competi- tion. The competition was held at Southeastern Univer- sity in Lakeland, on March 5th and 6th.
The Trio, which consists
of Rodney Mathis, Jr., Giuliano Virissimo and Antwaun Underwood, III, was joined by their prin- cipal, Ms. Maldanado, and Choir Director, Robson Galvao.
After competitng on Fri- day, participants were told to be on standby in case they needed to return on Saturday to perform. Such was the case with the Trio.
They returned on Satur- day to perform “Old Church Choir” by Zack Williams and learned they had won the Gold Medal.
FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY PAGE 11-A