NEW YORK, Aug. 28, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- To mark the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, youth leaders for Global Kids, Inc. have created an online community and game in conjunction with Game Pill, Inc., AMD and Microsoft Corp.'s Partners in Learning where young people can engage in and experience the ongoing relief efforts in New Orleans.
Global Kids, the foremost nonprofit in New York City dedicated to educating urban youth about civic engagement and international affairs, and Game Pill, an innovator in online games development, have created a socially conscious game and web site, "Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City" (www.tempestincrescentcity.org). This is the second game developed by Global Kids youth following the highly successful Ayiti: The Cost of Life (costoflife.org), which educates players about the obstacles to education faced by children in developing countries. Ayiti has been played worldwide over 1.5 million times and serves as a new model for games that address serious issues to increase youth awareness and involvement.
"Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City" is a comprehensive social networking website featuring an educational "game" experience where participants are encouraged to act in support of New Orleans residents. The site provides links to a variety of relief groups as well as information about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina including multiple timelines, analysis of media coverage, and supporting articles for all information presented. The site also features multiple curricula about Hurricane Katrina including Global Kids' own workshops for teachers to use as educational tools. Visitors who join the site become part of a social online community and contribute to forums about Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the continuing reconstruction.
The site was developed during the past school year by Global Kids Youth Leaders from Brooklyn's Canarsie High School, who selected the topic of Hurricane Katrina. They worked with Game Pill to create an educational game within a social networking site that focuses on the local heroes that emerged during the disaster while educating its players about the essentials of disaster readiness.
WHAT: Hurricane Katrina 3rd Anniversary Press Conference and Launch
Party for "Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in the Crescent City"
social networking site featuring educational "game" experience
in support of New Orleans residents
WHO: Global Kids Executive Director Carole Artigiani
Joined by: Online Leadership Program Director Barry Joseph
AMD representative Ward Tisdale
Microsoft Partners in Learning representative Mary Cullinane
WHERE: Global Kids Headquarters
137 East 25 Street, NY, NY
WHEN: Thursday, August 28, 2008
12 Noon - 2 PM
"Game Pill is proud to be involved with Global Kids in this effort," said Mike Sorretini, head of Game Pill. "We hope that the site serves to educate, enlighten and show the facts of Hurricane Katrina in an interactive and dynamic medium."
"AMD Changing the Game initiative is taking an expertise that the company has in the gaming industry and marrying it with our focus on education. Through gaming, we are giving kids a medium that they really enjoy, and giving them an opportunity to work with a team of their peers to actively collaborate and develop a positive game with social content," said Ward Tisdale, Director of Global Community Affairs at AMD.
"Global Kids' work on engaging teens through the Hurricane Katrina site showcases an incredible vision for using technology to develop life-long social activists and responsible citizens," said Mary Cullinane, Director of Innovation and Business Development for Microsoft U.S. Education, "and it is aligned with Microsoft's Partners in Learning engagement with students and teachers who live and work in New Orleans as they tirelessly rebuild and redesign their beloved city."
"Hurricane Katrina: Tempest in Crescent City" was developed through Global Kids' Playing for Keeps (P4K) program, which receives support from AMD and Microsoft's U.S. Partners in Learning Mid-Tier Grants Initiative. The game's main character is Vivica Waters, a young woman from New Orleans who moved to New York after surviving the storm. The game takes place in Vivica's dream, where she searches for her mother during the storm and helps her neighbors as the hero she wishes she could have been. The site will increase students' awareness and understanding of the need for development and improved coordination of local community resources in support of rebuilding efforts. It can be used within a classroom or after school setting.
Global Kids, Inc. (www,globalkids.org): Founded in 1989 and an independent nonprofit since 1993, Global Kids educates and inspires urban youth to become successful students and global and community leaders by engaging them in socially dynamic, content-rich learning experiences. Through its leadership development and academic enrichment programs, Global Kids educates youth about critical international and domestic issues and promotes their engagement in civic life and the democratic process. Through professional development initiatives, Global Kids provides educators with strategies for integrating experiential learning methods and international issues into urban classrooms. Over ninety percent of the high school seniors who participate in Global Kids' leadership program graduate from high school. About the OLP: Global Kids, Inc. is a nationally recognized leader in using digital media to promote global awareness and youth civic engagement. Global Kids' Online Leadership Program integrates a youth development approach and international and public policy issues into youth media programs that build digital literacy and STEM skills, foster substantive dialogues, develop resources for educators, and promote civic participation.
The Global Kids, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4850
Game Pill, Inc. (www.digitalcreations.com): Game Pill Inc. is an interactive studio that specializes in online game development and interactive marketing. Based out of Canada, Game Pill is a small boutique studio of animators, programmers and art directors. Game Pill Inc. has entertained audiences in many mediums including touch screen kiosk development, online experiences and most notably online games and e-learning. Game Pill has mainly worked bringing the properties of Fortune 500 companies to life and currently in the process of creating their own properties for licensing.
Advanced Micro Devices (www.amd.com) is a leading global provider of innovative processing solutions in the computing, graphics and consumer electronics markets. AMD is dedicated to driving open innovation, choice and industry growth by delivering superior customer-centric solutions that empower consumers and businesses worldwide. About AMD Changing the Game: This is an initiative of the AMD Foundation, designed to help youth at the middle and high school level harness the power of digital games with social content, while learning critical education and life skills. Through the process of developing and playing their own issue-themed games, AMD Changing the Game participants will develop essential skills in science, technology, engineering, and math, also known as STEM skills. Attention to these critical developmental areas will in turn help participants expand their future educational and professional opportunities as citizens of the 21st Century.
Microsoft Partners in Learning (http://www.microsoft.com/education/pil/partnersInLearning.aspx): Microsoft Partners in Learning grants are designed to support and grow proven, successful programs that positively affect K-12 public education in the United States through the innovative use of technology and that can be brought to a broader scale. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.