WESTY STUDENTS DESIGN AWARD WINNING VIDEO GAME

Two video game design students representing Westminster High School won silver medals at the 2023 Skills USA National Leadership Skills Conference in Atlanta, Georgia over the summer. 

Their award-winning work was recognized last week by the Board of Education. Erick Chavir, who now attends Arapahoe Community College, met with the board, while Jennifer Martinez is currently with her family in Mexico. Sergio Figueroa, who teaches Information Technology and Cyber Security at the high school joined Chavira in showing the game to the board. 

“This was a team effort,” said Figueroa. “The silver medal win not only highlights their exceptional talent but also reinforces the school's commitment to fostering creativity, innovation and technical expertise among its students.”

Their game, “Yuuki, Adventures in Mexico” has game players navigating a tiny mouse, Yuuki, through the streets of Mexico where players collect game coins and build points based on their speed and accuracy. The music used in the game was arranged by the high school mariachi band.

The three-day conference was held from June 21 to June 23, bringing together the top 25 teams from across the nation in the high school category.

The experience was an eye opener for Chavira who hopes to pursue a career in game design. Figueroa says it’s been an amazing transformation for his former student, allowing someone whose passion was playing games to now be creating them.