Esports

DoD STEM Outreach Office Sponsors Esports in NJ

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 07/20/20

A Department of Defense STEM outreach office in New Jersey is providing a free esports summer league for students in that state, to promote summer STEM learning. Kids in grades three through nine can join an esports summer league for free. The league is being run by DimensionU, a company that develops esports programs for education.

Players have free access to a platform that lets them practice their math and literacy skills through August 31. The games available are Towerstorm, Meltdown and Velocity, all covering both math and literacy and all available on the web or via mobile apps. The league will display the names of the top players for all three games on its leaderboards each week. If a school or organization used DimensionU before the summer, a group leaderboard will show the top players from those organizations. Family members are being invited to create their own accounts and play alongside their children.

The program is being sponsored by the Department of Defense STEM Outreach Office at Picatinny Arsenal in Wharton, NJ.

"We wanted to support summer learning, and since DimensionU's games align with New Jersey's standards, they were perfect," said Steven Hoy, CEO of DimensionU, in a press release. "When schools had to transition to distance learning during COVID-19, it created achievement gaps. And since in-person enrichment activities aren't being held this summer, these games will help keep those gaps from widening."

To gain free access, students must attend schools in New Jersey. They can register on the DimensionU summer access website.