Additionally , adding Esports to the district has opened new doors for its players . As this initial season came to a close , two of the Senior players received collegiate offers and scholarships .

The school district has been very supportive of the developing Esports program . During the summer months , the maintenance and technology departments assembled esports arenas in both the middle and high schools . Dr . Maurer noted that the high school arena “ has people from all over the place coming here to learn about it and see it . It ’ s very different . There are other schools that have Esports programs but there ’ s something about ours that other schools want to emulate .”

There are also multiple opportunities for students to get involved without picking up a game controller . Students worked behind-the-scenes implementing live-streaming of the matches , nurturing the growing online fan base , and broadcasting live play-by-play commentary known as shoutcasting . Others focused on marketing the sport through the creation of web-based content for social media .

“ We have a billion ideas of how this program can grow ,” said Dr . Maurer . “ We ’ re

looking into offering courses in the high school and maybe middle school units that live in a STEAM curriculum .”

Looking ahead , SF ’ s gamers are planning to head to Harrisburg in May for Scholastic Esports Day where they will join with schools from across the state for a day of advocacy and showcasing the growth of scholastic esports programming in PA . Additionally ,

the trip will provide SF students with an opportunity to witness state government in action , learn the art of advocacy , and share how their sport impacts their academic and social success .

To read more about South Fayette ’ s Esports teams , visit the Recent News section of southfayette . org or the program ’ s website beacons . ai / sflionsesports .

On Monday , January 15 , the high school was home to the largest Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference ( TRETC ) to date for the Pittsburgh Technology Council ( PTC ), with 537 attendees representing 93 school districts , private schools , colleges , and universities . This was our second consecutive year hosting , and it was a pleasure to showcase our facilities while attendees chose from sessions that focused on topics like cybersecurity education , inclusion and accessibility , integration of artificial intelligence , robotics , World of Work , and more . Faculty and staff from South Fayette were presenters at 8 of those sessions , and a few high school students were also involved . During the conference , a group of second graders conducted a survey and data science experiment . Their results were revealed prior to the day ’ s keynote address by one of our district parents , Dr . Joseph Yun . Additionally , the South Fayette Esports Team hosted its first at-home tournament during the event , finishing second overall .

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