CTE Video Game Design

Yuba City High School

About the TEACHER

My name is Athena Garner. I am an Art Teacher at Yuba City High School.  

I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2007 and my Single Subject Art credential in 2009 from California State University, Chico. The 2009/10 school year was devoted to working with Master Photographer Rick Murai with a concentration in both digital and film still photography. Additionally, I am proficient in a variety of digital art making soft wares and applications, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Dream Maker, EDesign, Movie Maker, Premiere Pro, and Construct 2 and Construct 3 video game making and various website design/management software.

Previous to completing my bachelor’s degree I was employed by Standard Brands Paint and Home Decorating Corporation in Torrance California as a decorative products and art buyer. I served in that capacity for seventeen years. The position required extensive collaboration with the in-house advertising, design and marketing departments, including staff and free-lance commercial film photographers, some of whom also worked for the Disney Corporation. In addition to still studio photography, I worked extensively in marketing design development and production.

As a CSUC graduate student I co-founded the Annual Art Educators Art Exhibit, curated art exhibits and designed and created art collection catalogs and promotional materials. As a credentialed art teacher, I have continued my development as a professional photographer. I regularly travel to a variety of domestic and international sites and locales to photo document various historic sites, monumental artworks, and architecture with a concentration on sites in New Orleans LA, Savannah GA, and Florence, Assisi, Rome and Paestum, Italy.

My extensive professional experience and continued practice as a working free-lance photographer and video game developer has prepared and enabled me to teach a variety of high school level digital art-based courses. While in the employ of the Yuba City Unified School District I have successfully taught ROP/CTE courses including Digital Art Media, Digital Photography, and Video Game Design (beginning through advanced levels) and help in establishing the current YCHS Video Composition course and program.

Courses

GAME:IT Beginning

GAME:IT Beginning is a computer programming course that will engage students with project-based learning and get them started on a path towards a career in computer science! Students will go from simple “drag-n-drop” programming to writing code. The course also covers the basic math & physics concepts used in game development and how the engineering design cycle is used to design games and to solve problems. Students will design, code, and build 2D games using
foundational programming and computing concepts. By the end of the course, students will have built 5+ original video games.

The GAME: Advanced


The GAME IT: Advanced course is the capstone course in the high school game design and programming pathway. In this course, students will focus on mobile game development and the advanced game physics, mechanics, and multiplayer aspects of these types of games. The skills covered in this course include:
  • Mobile Game
  • Development
  • JavaScript Programming
  • Advanced Game Physics
  • UX & UI Design
  • Marketing & Monetization
  • In-App Advertisements
  • Industry Awareness

GAME:IT Intermediate

GAME:IT Intermediate level course in game design and development that engages students in a real-life game development company. Throughout the course students act as a game development company to plan, design, build, and market an original game. In addition, students build several guided games that build on some of the functionality required in their own unique team game. Students will design, code, and build 2D games using foundational programming and computing concepts. By the end of the course, students will have built 5+ original video games.

LEARNING Pathways

Learning Pathways

Video game design relies on STEM education as a teaching approach. The video game pathway introduces students to computer science and programming. As students advance their way through game design courses students become proficient in industry standard software and fluent in a variety of coding languages. Game design is STEM-related and draws on key scientific and technological concepts combined with basic principals and concepts explored through fine arts. At the conclusion of the Advanced level course, students will have the opportunity to take an industry certification exam.

Career Prospects

Video Game Designer

As a game designer, you'll bring ideas, build prototypes, create interactive narration and develop video game mechanics. Video game designers develop concepts through storyboards and flowcharts that describe gameplay. Then, they write code to create the game and test for bugs. Designers may focus on the game's setting, characters, or visuals. Video game design can be challenging when it comes to deadlines or bug fixes.

Video Game Developer

Video game developers work with video game designers to develop concepts through storyboards and flowcharts that describe gameplay. Then, they write code to create the game and test for bugs. Video game developers work with video game designers coordinating all the creative aspects of video game making and are responsible for the actual coding and technical aspects of putting a game together.

Computer Programmer

Computer programmers code and test programming for software and mobile apps. Develop and deploy computer applications. Fix bugs in existing code, analyze and modify existing software as well as design, construct and test end-user applications that meet user needs — all through software programming languages. The role also focuses on the complex and large software systems that make up the core systems for an organization.

Contact

  • Yuba City, California, United States