Educators may be conversant with some of the career learning opportunities employers offer students during the school year, but it’s probably not as well-known what companies are doing to provide career exposure during the summer.
One such opportunity that’s caught the state’s eye comes from Sigma Resources’ subsidiary, Simcoach Games. Simcoach has partnered with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit and schools in the region to connect with students interested in its summer Junior Game Developer Pre-Apprenticeship in video game development.
Now in its fourth year, the program begins Monday, June 10 and is still taking applications. Registered with the state, it pays $10 per hour and runs for six weeks.
The pre-apprenticeship, which takes place at Simcoach’s Carson St. offices on the South Side, engages students in designing their games around the same focus areas as the company, said Brian Kaleida, Simcoach’s Chief Executive Officer. This year, they’ll be working on games aimed at helping people with developmental disabilities become more independent by building life skills and vocational skills, which is one of Simcoach’s specialties.
Although the pre-apprenticeship is aimed at games, the technological expertise students develop is broad-based, giving them skills that are applicable across a range of tech jobs, Sigma Resources’ Chief Executive Officer, Sandeepa Kaleida explained in a news release. “Through our registered pre-apprenticeship,” she said, “students gain a holistic education in digital art, design, production and more, preparing them for success across the technology sector.”
The program, which enrolls 40 students per year, recently won recognition from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry in the form of a $250,000 workforce development grant that will help train another 120 students over the next three years. It was one of 14 awards totaling $3.3 million that the department made as part of its School-to-Work initiative.
Elaborating in the news release, Sigma Resources’ Kaleida said, “The grant we’ve been awarded amplifies our efforts to use game design as a powerful teaching tool, bridging the gap between immersive technologies and workforce skills.”