On Thursday, March 1, Interscholastic Gaming League (IGL) organized Gaming Extravaganza as part of the activities for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Medicine (STEM) Week, which is led by WiSTEM.
“[The main purpose of this event] is to display the technological advances of our generation through a sort of history of gaming,” IGL president Timothy Luong (11) said.
With televisions, projectors, and gaming systems set up in the gym, students were able to play a variety of video games including the original Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Guitar Hero.
For IGL member and attendee Benjamin Chu (10), the event was a nice break from the usual academic-related classes and activities.
“It’s a time when we can just relax, play games, [and be] laid-back,” he said.
Similar to the other activities held during the week, Gaming Extravaganza was considered to be a class competition as points were awarded to classes based on participation. The class with the highest number of students present at the event earned the most points. According to Timothy, the sophomore class had the highest participation rate.
In addition to increasing awareness of science and technology, IGL is one of the many clubs that have partnered with WiSTEM to incorporate fundraising efforts for charitable causes with spirit competitions.
“We’re trying to bring all the different clubs together [in STEM Week], so every club gets to do its own individual thing,” WiSTEM member Saira Ahuja (12) said. “This is gaming club’s contribution.”