Mattawa students get their GAME ON!

Last Tuesday I got to help 35 excited Wahluke Junior High students kick off their participation in GAME ON!, an after-school program in Mattawa, Washington. This program gives students a unique opportunity to learn computer coding and play soccer with volunteers trained by professional soccer coaches from Real Madrid, the internationally top-ranked football league. Wahluke Junior High held a pep assembly to honor the students, who were thrilled to be part of the program.

GAME ON! was started by Central Washington University and combines the fun of computer coding and the excitement of World Cup soccer to create a unique opportunity for middle school students. The program started in the Yakima Valley and expanded to the students in Mattawa by a $54,000 Microsoft TechSpark digital skills grant. This grant provides GAME ON! to the district for a two-year period.

The GAME ON! program is grounded in three main areas: facilitating knowledge and innovation with coding and STEM, teaching values through soccer, and creating a viable and attainable pathway for higher education for all our students. School district employees and volunteers learn youth coaching skills from the Real Madrid Foundation, which sends coaches to visit central Washington in the fall every year. Microsoft provides the digital skills component that students of all levels can learn from. CWU staff mentor coaches and students and run GAME ON! meetings twice a week. Students learn coding for an hour and then move to the field to sharpen their soccer skills for 90 minutes. The students also get to visit CWU and will attend a Seattle Sounders game in the spring.

Wahluke Junior High resides in Grant County Washington and sits along the Columbia River amid the many vineyards and orchards that dot the area. Mattawa is known as a true migrant agriculture town where the normal population of 4,400 expands to upward of 6,500 during peak fruit picking season. It is also home to the third largest apple growing area in the state and has gained recognition as a prime vineyard region as well. The area also boasts two hydroelectric dams which power Grant County. With the closest larger communities of Richland and Ellensburg an hour away, Mattawa has a true small-town feel.

I’m thrilled to part of a program that gives Mattawa students an opportunity to connect with their neighboring communities, learn computer science skills that will help set them up for success in the future and have some fun in the process.