SCRANTON, Pa. — The Lackawanna College Esports program partnered with the NEIU 19 is holding its fourth Minecraft Camp in downtown Scranton.
For Jake Gower, who calls himself an experienced Minecraft player, the camp is still surprising him with new tips and tricks.
"So there's a lot that I do know, but there's also a lot that I don't know," said Gower. "And a lot of stuff I don't know they are teaching me here at camp."
The Minecraft Camp runs for five days and focuses on building the campers' STEM skills through playing Minecraft.
"The beauty of the Minecraft Educational Edition is that there are tons and tons of pre-built lessons in math, science, chemistry, and all sorts of different things. We can go into these lessons with specific a specific number of kids," said Teddy Delaney, the esports director at Lackawanna College. "They create these paths along the way through these huge, diverse worlds, and every stop has a different lesson."
The kids travel through different game maps, learning about fossils, the ecosystem, and even how to build a rocket ship.
Some activities require group work, allowing the gamers to get to know one another through video games.
"It taught me teamwork skills and all that stuff, so everyone is working together like, 'Hey, this guy will get this, and this guy will get that.' And everyone else is working together," said Danny Gilroy from Eynon.
"I've had a very fun time here, and this year I made five friends," said Gower.
Some students want to share the lessons they've learned with others.
"I would teach them how to play the whole game, mine wood, get diamonds, defeat the Ender Dragon," said Gian Carlo Clemente of Dunmore. "Maybe one day they would help someone else like I would do."
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