Girl Scouts to Create Video Games at RIT March 14

Rochester-area girl scouts are going to be immersed in video games on Saturday, March 14. They won’t be playing them, however. They’ll be creating them.

The Association of Women in Computing and the information technology department at Rochester Institute of Technology are hosting the Games for Life Interest Project Workshop from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. in the B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. The workshop is designed to give young girls a hands-on learning experience and spark early interest in a possible career in the world of video games.

“This is an opportunity for these young women to explore what a career creating and designing video games would look like,” says Stephen Jacobs, the director of RIT’s Lab for Technological Literacy. “It will also allow them to complete the requirements for their Games For Life project and earn their insignia. Though this will be the first time we offer such a workshop, we hope to offer it on at least an annual basis.”

Organizers hope to distribute the curriculum and materials to other Girl Scout organizations and colleges around the country so they can offer the workshop in their communities.

Thirty-two scouts and 11 parents are scheduled to attend the event. Victoria Van Voorhis, the chief executive officer of Rochester-based Second Avenue Software and Tobi Saulnier, chief executive officer of First Playable in Troy, N.Y., will serve as guest speakers.