Hartford School to get Esports Lab

Those parents who scolded their kids for staying up late playing video games and ignoring their Spanish homework, may soon be biting their tongues (the Spanish teachers will still be upset).  The Hartford Board of Education, at a January 4th Board meeting, moved forward a proposal, on the unilateral voice of Chair Kim Oliver, to partner with North Carolina based Stay Plugged IN (which Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez will be happy to note, uses the acronym, “SPIN”) to bring an Esports lab to University High School of Science and Engineering (which used the more boring acronym, “UHHSSE”).  An Esports team from UHHSSE was honored last month at the Board of Education’s Regular Meeting for winning a State Championship in Esports, which according to Principal Sean Tomany, was the first State Championship for the school “in any competitive sport.”  This may be due to the fact, as Mr. Tomany pointed out, that the school doesn’t have a gym.

         Just as a high school football team needs a football field, so too does an Esports team need an Esports lab.  A location to practice and hold Esports competitions, but also, as was pointed out during the meeting, the Esports lab would be a space for classes in subject matters surrounding Esports, such as graphic design, video production, and game design.  This would open student interests in career fields, such as branding and advertising as well as the technologies surrounding the Esports industry.  And let’s be clear, the Esports field has exploded into a world-wide industry.

         Esports revenue, world wide, grew nearly 40% from 2020 to 2022, reaching nearly $1.4 billion, and is expected to grow another 35% to nearly $1.9 billion by 2025.  According to Mr. Tomany’s presentation to the Board, 300 U.S. colleges are offering $40 million in scholarships for Esports and related college degrees, and 2 students from UHHSSE are already being actively recruited.  Among NCAA Division 1 schools, 139 of them have Esports programs.  The SPIN website has notices for online college recruitment events that are mixed with Esports competitions where students are able to compete for up to $4,000 in cash prizes.  Based on its world-wide growth and popularity, it isn’t a stretch to say that gamers and geeks may someday be competing at the Olympics.

         SPIN was founded by former Hartford native Rick Suarez in 2019.  Mr. Suarez is also president of a North Carolina based metal recycling company, United American Steel Company, which was started by another Connecticut native and UCONN alum, Michael Melio.  Mr. Suarez’s proposal to the Board is $90k for a 3-month SPIN consultation on the buildout and furnishing of an Esports lab at UHHSSE, pricing subject to site upgrade assessments and “ancillary expenses associated with games and software needed, and/or ongoing subscription fees assessed by the game publisher.”  Sounds like a blank check, or at least a warning that they’ll be back before the Board for more cash.  No Board member questioned the proposal.  The proposal does not cover the cost of construction or electrical contractors needed to create the space; did the Board do research as to what that possible cost would be?  Will folks from SPIN put down their game controllers, don Dickies and do the work?  The SPIN website is heavy on tools to link high school Esports athletes with colleges and scholarships, part of Mr. Suarez’s mission to create not just gamers, but scholars as well.  Are there subscription or other fees, not set forth in the proposal, which may be associated with Hartford students having access to these tools?  Part of UHHSSE Principal Tomany’s vision is to have 2 STEM teachers for the planned classes to be held in the lab, creating more budgeting (and recruitment) issues.

         Superintendent Torres-Rodriguez was giddy with excitement over this proposal (which ought to create alarm in anyone’s mind), stating that this program answers well any questions of equity “in the sense of speaking to diverse interests.”  She also tied this endeavor to education innovation and her future program of “reimaging education,” where she envisions something “bigger and better.”  As to equity, while one must applaud the “diverse interests” direction, is this equity in the sense of only one school in Hartford having such a program?  Is there just one football program in Hartford?  Will students from other Hartford schools be able to utilize the lab and “try out” for the Esports team?  Mr. Tomany stated that one of the benefits of an Esports lab at UHHSSE, a Hartford Magnet school, is that it “will help me to recruit students and maintain the target score of enrollments,” staying abreast with the requirements of the Sheff settlement.  Is this contract, along with the CTForum contract approved by the Board in December (the Hartford Board of Education is currently running a 106-0 streak on approving issues brought before them by the Superintendent) for Sports and Medical Sciences Academy, another magnet school, directed solely at magnet schools in order to bring tuition paying students from the suburbs to Hartford in order to stop the budget bleeding due to the drop in Hartford magnet school enrollment?  I would have provided you with a link to the last Board of Education Finance and Audit Committee meeting where Hartford Schools finance guy, Phillip Penn, spoke on this issue, however, the folks at BoardDocs do not feel these meetings important enough to maintain a record of once they are adjourned.

         Finally, what about the scientific and health concerns on the effects of continuous screen time on the human brain?  Principal Tomany’s presentation to the Board stated that attendance by students in Esports programs increases by 10%, and that their GPA scores are on average 1.7 points higher than students not in Esports programs.  Positive data but data from a resource in its infancy.  Harvard Medical research found that “digital devices can interfere with everything from sleep to creativity,” and their Clinic for Interactive Media and Internet Disorders treat “young people whose excessive gaming, social media, and other online activities are affecting their health and daily lives at home and school.”  In a study verified by the folks at Psychology Today, researchers have demonstrated that “excessive screen time damages the brain,” resulting in “gray matter atrophy, and reduced cortical thickness,” affecting “emotional processing, executive attention, decision making, and cognitive control.”  Even Board member Dr. Shmerling, who isn’t a doctor but leads doctors, would agree that this sounds bad.  The Mayo Clinic, the folks who first demonstrated the link between insulin and diabetes, says that there is a link between “too much” screen time and obesity, irregular sleep, behavioral problems, impaired academic performance, and violence – all which currently afflict Hartford students.  Hartford Schools already practices student malpractice by ignoring the science on the cognitive benefits of learning another language, will they also ignore the science on the negative effects of playing League of Legends for multiple hours a day?

As currently scheduled, the Board of Education will meet on January 17th at 5:30 pm, at Weaver High School, to cast an up or down vote on the Esports lab buildout.  This is the final opportunity for students, parents, teachers, and the community to speak out on this issue.  If you support it, show up to show your excitement.  If you are against it, show up to explain why.  Until then, put down your game controller and do your Spanish homework.