LAKEVIEW — As technology progresses, so does the curriculum in educational institutions. Students at Lakeview High School had the opportunity to build their own gaming computers, something that science teacher Joel Orr hopes will expand their horizons when it comes to future careers.
"For the last few years, we've been interested in e-sports, or bringing e-sports to the school," said Orr Tuesday.
The popularity of electronic sports — or e-sports — has grown steadily over the past several years. According to the University of Michigan, the industry expanded by 10% in 2022 alone.
"I thought, 'Well, why not have the kids make their own or put them together so they get that experience as well along with it?'" Orr added.
"To look at it on a store shelf, it's like... that's not very interesting. It's just a box. But then to put it together, it's like there's this piece, this piece... there's many, just... it's like a puzzle," said Lakeview High School sophomore Grace Engelsman.
Twenty-nine students paired up to build 30 gaming computers during the fall semester.
"It was actually a very interesting process with, like, in catching the RAM and putting the fan and all that, clearly a very interesting and different experience," said Lakeview High School junior Andrew Davis.
It's given the students an idea of what a future in tech could look like.
"It will open more doors as I really want to go into art, animation kind of things, and with this, the computers can run better programs and offer ... an animation class next year," said Davis.
"I was thinking, 'Yeah, hand-drawn animation, illustration, do that.' But doing, like, computer stuff is like, 'Oh, I could do, like, online, do this, like, on computers,' and then to have to fix that," Engelsman said.
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