Challenges and Focuses

The Rigby Esports Program has identified two main focuses that we will stress and highlight in our students' STEM learning and competitive gaming experiences.

1- We take pride in and emphasize creating opportunities for girls and minorities in esports and in STEM learning. RHS Esports is an inclusive community, and we are building a functional skill set for all of our student participants using technology hardware. We have reached out, recruited, and will ensure placement for girls and minorities in our esports program because we value having an inclusive community for STEM learning.

All students in our program will learn to build their STEM abilities and skills, and we will have a computer hardware lab so all student participants will attain the necessary knowledge and hands-on experience to proficiently troubleshoot and work on PCs.

Our program co-founders, Aeris Sadler and Brayan Maya, both Rigby High School seniors, lead the way in creating a welcoming and positive environment. Aeris presented her vision to our district school board and received the go-ahead to officially begin the Rigby Esports Program. This program will include at least forty students and will increase in population as the program grows. There is a large representation of girls and minorities in the program and will include a diverse demographic of students. One of the main elements of the Rigby Esports Program is that the students build skills in technology and take ownership of all aspects of their gaming experience, which means that they know their hardware, how to build a PC, and how to fix problems that arise.

2- All student participants in the Rigby High School Esports Program will take part in and run our Rigby Rebuild/Recycle Program. The Rebuild/Recycle program will bring in used PC components and parts. The students will learn to troubleshoot problems, safely take apart the donated PCs, check the components, and learn to build functional PCs using the parts that have been donated along with new hardware. The students will learn about compatibility for motherboard CPU sockets and processors, as well as building an ideal configuration using different options. Having the extra PC components will allow our students to be hands-on and take a large role in their own progress and learning.

Using STEM in RHS Esports

The Rigby High School Esports Program will take on environmental sustainability through a few different methods and initiatives. Our students will learn about energy efficiency in our gaming practices and in classes for the program. They will learn about energy consumption and the steps we can take to cut it back and run our program more efficiently.

Our gaming program has a responsibility to use energy in a wise and efficient manner. We are fundraising through sponsors and grants to be able to afford power-saving monitors that are Energy Star certified, quality and energy efficient PSUs, and SSDs as a more efficient option over HDDs. Our students will be educated in energy conservation techniques for the PCs and the gaming peripherals that we use.

The RHS Esports Program will also run a community PC donation drive to give us the components and hardware to let students do hands-on work with PC building and troubleshooting and to recycle the rest of the parts and components through a reputable PC e-waste recycling center. This will be called the Rigby Esports Rebuild/Recycle Program.

We are excited to implement our Rigby Esports Rebuild/Recycle Program this year. This program will allow us to gather PCs and components from the community and to use the hardware or recycle outdated, broken, or obsolete components and PCs. It uses the word “Rebuild” first to signify our desire to build and learn with the donated hardware, then “Recycle” if we cannot use the hardware. The program is set up to do the following:

- We will advertise our program on our social media. This includes Instagram, our website, and Twitter. The Rebuild/Recycle program will be promoted through our local businesses using reusable posters. Students will spread the information in the school on announcements and reusable posters.

- There will be a set donation date and site for our community members to bring their PCs and hardware. - Teachers and students will go through the donated hardware and sort it into reusable or recyclable.

- The reusable components and hardware will be used to allow our students to learn, troubleshoot, and demonstrate their knowledge as we teach them how to build and maintain the PCs in our arena.

- Recyclable hardware will be taken to the local e-waste center.

This program is designed to cut down on e-waste products going into landfills and cut down on functional components being discarded needlessly. These components will be used by our students to build, create, and demonstrate IT skills and abilities.

It also allows our students to learn to work with the community and take responsibility for a program they can be proud to be a part of and proud to represent. Students will learn lifelong skills and habits by using technology efficiently, knowing what makes their technology efficient, and how to work on their own hardware.

Following the Rebuild/Recycle program we have laid out for our community outreach, we will run our PC and hardware donation center at least once a year to build our supply of components and parts and to continue to recycle old and unusable PCs and PC parts. Students will reach out to our community via social media and advertising so that members of our community will be aware of our program and continue to support it.

As our student participant base grows, we will reach out to the surrounding communities and ask for e-waste donations to expand our impact and continue to give our students the opportunity to learn STEM skills. Our student participants are invested in our program and it's important that they find ways to serve our community and build awareness of sustainable practices.

We look forward to growing as a program and we need to find ways to fund and equip our participants. By collecting computers and hardware from our community, we will be able to add, educate, and give more opportunities to our student population. This is a program that will give our students personal pride in learning how to build and maintain their computers, learning how to use energy efficiently and the importance of energy-efficient components, and continuing to use these skills as they progress and advance through their lives.