By Desa Philadelphia

Two students from Augustus F. Hawkins High School took the game design class in the SCA summer program through funding donated in part by the Black Employee Resource Group at game design company Scopely. The company, which has operations in more than a dozen countries globally, is known for gaming collaborating with the biggest entertainment companies, including Marvel, Hasbro, Paramount, and many others.
 
Hawkins High, which is located in South Los Angeles, is comprised of three small learning communities including the Critical Design and Gaming School ( C:\DAGS) which uses gaming as a way of teaching STEM subjects. Hawkins even uses game play in a Learning Lab specialized in interventions for special needs and neurodivergent students.

The Hawkins students came to the School of Cinematic Arts through USC Games Professor TreaAndrea Russworm’s community organizing efforts.  Russworm’s Radical Play Lab is a design and research lab that centers community and engagement, especially of people who are under-represented among game creators at companies like Scopely. The Radical Play Lab also organizes its annual research and outreach under social justice themes. This academic year (2024-2025), the theme, not surprisingly, is Democracy.
 
Russworm formed relationships at Hawkins and with the Black@Scopely group that led to the funding needed to allow the students to take the game design class, for which they earned transferable college credits. “This is only the beginning of what we hope will be a long-term system of support for (Hawkins) students going forward,” says Russworm. “They are the future of game design and the games industry should take notice.”