“Click like a beast!” “You destroyed my boat, bro!” Excitement was in the air at The High School for Health Professions and Human Services (HPHS) as students debuted computer games they created in a 6-week program sponsored by CYD and the popular platform Roblox, and led by an accomplished game developer. To create their games, the students – from HPHS Gaming Club members to novices – learned coding, animation, and other aspects of design. On this last day of class, the students presented their games and received Roblox certificates. One team’s game was a first-person journey through a horror maze; another was an obstacle course of giant musical instruments. Others involved combat on land and sea.

CJ Oyer, who taught the class, marveled, “These students are so ridiculously talented! Their games are miles ahead of the 50th game I designed.” Many of the students are members of HPHS’s popular Gaming Club, led by Brandon Fernandez, who encouraged the students’ love of games and prepared them for this program. Teamwork was also essential to the experience. Student Asbel Mejia said, “I got to learn my strong suits. I saw what my teammates were good at and let them do those parts.”

CYD Board member Michael Melcher connected CYD with Roblox. HPHS Assistant Principal Louis Karaiskos said, “Our partnership with CYD is one of the things that has helped make us an elite school. The Roblox class is the kind of opportunity we would only have through CYD.”

Oyer and fellow Roblox creator Ana Aguilar also led a career panel for students at Manhattan Comprehensive Night & Day High School where they shared their experiences and talked about the many kinds of work people can do on the platform. Students learned that in this field they could become programmers, video editors, translators, moderators, or even 2D clothing designers.