{"id":147054,"date":"2025-06-09T10:55:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T14:55:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054//?p=147054"},"modified":"2025-06-11T09:23:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T13:23:47","slug":"high-school-students-level-up-knowledge-of-gaming-careers-at-ucfs-florida-interactive-entertainment-academy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054///news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054//www.ucf.edu/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054//news/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054//high-school-students-level-up-knowledge-of-gaming-careers-at-ucfs-florida-interactive-entertainment-academy/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054//","title":{"rendered":"High School Students Level Up Knowledge of Gaming Careers at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u2019s Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past month, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA) welcomed the KB Foundation and 28 young people in its Philadelphia-based mentorship programs for a tour of FIEA facilities, offering a glimpse into the degrees available and potential future careers in the gaming industry. Students also had an opportunity to visit Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u2019s main campus, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ Downtown, Creative Village and Electronic Arts./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

Since 2017, the KB Foundation has supported Philadelphia/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u2019s youth through educational experiences and mentorship. This immersive Orlando trip combined two of the organization/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u2019s programs to advance learning for its KB Foundation mentees, including youth from 20 high schools who have participated in college prep or lunch and learn programs since middle school. Founder and CEO Kirk Berry says that he wants the students who participate in the program to learn about careers through immersive experiences and make the right choices for their future./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cAt the KB Foundation Inc., our approach to career exploration activities is about exposing our youth to what it is like for a day in the life of any given career,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d Berry says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cHearing about a career is one way to learn, but spending time doing a small part of the career is a more impactful way to learn about it./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

College Possible, an organization working to broaden educational opportunities for youths, also attended this exploratory Orlando field trip for KB Foundation mentees./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

Tyler Cholminski, a high school junior and mentee, says the KB Foundation and College Possible programs are helping him prepare for his future./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cI just started with the program a month ago,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d Cholminski says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cThey have already taught me so much. More than just preparing for college, I’ve learned about life./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

The KB Foundation recognizes Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u2019s strong ties to the gaming industry through its successful FIEA alumni, which inspired them to visit the university./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cThis partnership came about because our vice president of operations and programming, Justin Fishman,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d Berry says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cHe saw it as an opportunity to give our youth an opportunity to experience an extremely specialized career field. Since the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has a direct career path to the gaming industry, it will show our youth what is required to pursue such a skilled profession./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

Berry says the trip will give students a fresh perspective on gaming, which already plays a significant part in many of their lives./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cThis trip will have a tremendous impact on our youth because many of them play games and only participate as consumers,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d Berry says.  /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cThe opportunity to learn about the pathway into this specific industry will be life-changing for the students./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

During the students/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u2019 trip to FIEA, they had the opportunity to listen to executive director Ben Noel speak about what their future could look like with a career in gaming./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n

/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cFIEA has one of the top graduate programs in gaming for the past six years,/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d Noel says. /news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201cElectronic Arts, Microsoft, and Iron Galaxy are all up the street from us. Twenty years ago, game development was not prevalent in Downtown Orlando. Today, there are 2,500 developers working in Orlando. Things like this happen in cities when they really focus on doing things./news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/u201d/news/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/147054/n