Teacher’s Corner: GAAME

by Hans Kishel
December 7, 2005

GAAME
Gaining Academic Advancement Masked as Entertainment

The GAAME program addresses LSTA Goal: 1-C, exploring alternative methods of providing activities that support the educational role of libraries.

Terry Brooks Public Library
123 Library Street
Bjornsford, IL 61309

Hans Kishel
Amount requested $27,750
hkishel2@uiuc.edu

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Terry Brooks Public Library will implement the GAAME project, which will involve the introduction of board games to K-12 children as a weekend library activity.  GAAME, a Saturday program that will be focused on K-12 students, also will be open to families and community members.  GAAME uses board games (games similar in design to traditional games such as Monopoly, with a set of rules and a board that the game is played on) to spark academic interest in the participants in a new way.  The program offers exposure to new ideas and subjects in an entertaining way.  The games that will be used will all have been chosen for particular reasons: for example, introduction of an interesting time period in our history, the introduction of abstract thinking, cooperation, economics, mathematics, et cetera.  The GAAME program addresses LSTA goal 1-C, exploring alternative methods of providing activities that support the educational role of libraries.  Games offer participants an enjoyable pastime and also challenge their minds.  It has been well documented that people of all ages can gain mental acuity from playing games.  For the children of this program, GAAME will offer an alternative way to learn concepts from school or provide a reinforcement of those topics.

Each weekend at least two games will be introduced to the participants. The topics of the games will be introduced and explained by the guest speaker or a staff member. A minimum of two library staff members will be present at each GAAME session, and with the support of guests and volunteer staff, the organizers will strive for an adult-to-child ratio of at least one adult per ten children. Children may attend for any part or for the entirety of a session. Handouts will be created for the children that will explain the game that they played that week and also point out some books that are related to the subjects related to the game.  It will be a reminder of what they have played as well as a way to inform them of what else the library and education has to offer them.  This will also serve as a way for their parents to know what games their children are being introduced too, and what subjects have been covered.

The GAAME project will also include the introduction of books that are related to all the subjects that are touched on in the games, as well as guests that will be able to show the participants other aspects to games and game play. 

The guest speakers, who will be chosen for their involvement in game design, education, and other relevant professions, will speak to the children and parents about games, education, and careers/life skills.  The books will all be from the library’s collection so that any can be checked out.  The staff, volunteers, and guest speakers will play games with the students and be there to answer questions the children might have.  The GAAME program will be six hours long, including one hour for staff to prepare the facilities and evaluate the day’s response.  Two Terry Brooks Public Library staff members will be involved with running the program each weekend, with a third staff member regularly overseeing the program budget and management issues of the program during the week.

TARGET AUDIENCE NEEDS AND OUTCOMES

Our target audience for this program is the K-12 students.  The K-12 students are the bull’s-eye of a dartboard, with the next ring being their families, the next ring being our entire community.  The program is focused on the bull’s-eye, but will affect the entire dartboard.  The K-12 students in the community need encouragement in their academic studies, as well as recreational opportunities.

Teachers from the public school system have spoken to the library staff about there being a need to encourage the children to learn, and to provide examples of how the things that they are being taught can apply to the real world and be fun.  Interaction with the families at the public library helped show the need for both education and recreation.  Recreational opportunities for children are limited in Bjornsford. As the area has hit on economic hard times, many businesses have closed, including businesses targeted towards children’s entertainment and academic enrichment.

A primary goal of the GAAME program is giving K-12 students the opportunity to participate in fun activities that will increase their awareness and understanding of fundamental concepts from the public schools curriculum. Other goals include exposing the children to activities that they may not have had the opportunity to participate in otherwise, as well as hearing from people from outside the community about their lives and hobbies.  A further goal will be to offer alternative activities for families in need of inexpensive entertainment and something to help bring them together.  The GAAME program provides a very different approach to teaching educational fundamentals that is fun and still requires the child to think, learn and interact socially with their peers and adults.  It will also provide a way to include the children’s families in the learning process. Games used in the program will be available for patron check out and use in the library during the week.

The measurement of the outcome and goals will be handled through the statistics that the Terry Brooks Public Library will collect, as well as standardized test scores from the school district at the end of the academic year.  The library will be collecting information on circulation, reference, and patronage more rigorously during the GAAME program, with special attention paid to patrons who are in the K-12 age range.  The GAAME program will also produce and distribute questionnaires that will be presented to the parents of children who participated in the program to gauge their progress and solicit parental feedback.  The school district has agreed to inform the program director of GAAME of the district’s standardized test scores at the end of the academic year, with special attention paid to changes from previous years.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

The Project Director will be responsible for all matters pertaining to the program planning and implementation.  The Project Manager will be responsible for the oversight and planning of meetings and the project budget.  The Project Facilitator will be responsible for the implementation of the program and all program related tasks, such as creation of the flyers and contacting potential guest speakers.  Program volunteers will be delegated tasks and responsibilities on an add needed basis, dependant on their qualifications and abilities.

A minimum of eight guest speakers will be contracted to participate in the program.  From the guest speakers, two will be from the educational profession, four will be game designers two of which will have won awards from either MENSA or Educational Game of the Year, the other two will be game advocates employed in professional careers with one being from a technology related field.

Below is the timeline that will be followed for the program.

October –
Initial meeting with staff, volunteers, and interested community members to initiate work on selection of guest speakers, setting the schedule, and ordering selected games and books. Marketing strategies will be discussed and promotional tasks will be delegated.

Progress meeting with core staff and volunteers: Schedule will be finalized. Flyers for schools and first advertisement for local paper will be approved.

November –
Advertising will start for the program.

Continue with booking guests and ordering books and games.

Two meetings will be held for updates on staff progress. Second advertisement will be written and put in the paper.

Promote the program in local schools, the Terry Brooks Public Library, and other community spaces with flyers.

December –
Public meeting on the program.  Two guest speakers with careers in education who use games successfully in their programs will be present, and can tell the community members about how this sort of program will benefit the children and them as well.  During the speakers’ time with the parents and community members, the children will have a chance to go to another room and look at some of the games, and maybe even get to try out a few while the speakers talk with the community members that have questions and concerns.

Continue promotion of the program.

January – February
Program begins, with one meeting a week, on Saturdays. Staff members begin recording of attendance, circulation statistics, and reference questions. Feedback is solicited from community members, compiled, and reviewed by project director.

GAAME will host guest speakers as decided during planning period.

March –
Program continues.
Meeting for assessment of statistics from the first two months, feedback review, and budget update.
GAAME will host guest speakers as decided during planning period.

April – June
Program continues.
Meeting for assessment and budget, and feedback.  Questionnaires written for children and parents.
GAAME will host guest speakers as decided during planning period.

July –
Final assessment of the program.  Questionnaires, feedback, statistics all examined to evaluate program success.  Finial budget and report for the State of Illinois completed.

Program will continue to be offered through the summer at least two Saturdays a month. Additional program offerings will be dependent on volunteer staffing levels and interest.  When school starts again in the fall, the program will revert to a weekly Saturday schedule, except during holidays.

MANAGEMENT PLAN

Program Director:
Hans Kishel, the director of the library, has been involved with the successful implementation of three other grants of a similar nature.  Mr. Kishel also has played games for the last 28 years and was at one time a student who had a great deal of difficulty learning in a traditional way, and gained much from playing games.  He has also done extensive research into similar programs and uses of games in education.

Program Manager:
Mary Kelly-Clarkson, assistant director of the library, has been involved in the successful implantation of 21 grants of varying sizes and scopes during her time at the TBPL, and will be the accountant for this project.  Mrs. Kelly-Clarkson has been involved in many programs aimed at children who are struggling in school and life, and brings a great deal of experience with her to this program.

Program Facilitator:
James Paulsen, a retired 3rd grade teacher who now works part-time at the Terry Brooks Public Library, has taken part in 4 grants with his school on increasing the awareness of creative alternatives to standard education.  Mr. Paulsen has been involved in games for over 50 years in his personal life, and has used them in classroom activities as well.

One potential problem is negative perception of games in the community.  There have been many high profile media reports featuring games in some negative way.  The most well known negative stories involve the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.  A public meeting will be held before the launch of the project for community members to come in, ask questions and voice concerns.  The meeting will be advertised so that the community at large will be aware of it.  The games that will be used in this program are not role-playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons; they are board games which are similar in design to Monopoly and Candyland.  The games that the program will be using will not involve topics that might be perceived as sending the wrong message to the children.  The program will also have a great deal of literature available to community members on the use of games in education, as well as at least one guest speaker who will discuss the use of games in education and schools in particular. 

Another potential problem the program faces is difficulty booking guest speakers to participate in the program.  Several choices for each guest-speaking slot will be identified so that if one cannot be booked, another will contacted.  If the problem is negotiation of compensation for the work, the program will have to move to the second choice for the engagement.

COMMUNICATION/MARKETING

To increase community awareness of the GAAME program, a schedule of advertisements will run in the local newspaper, and flyers will be distributed and displayed in local schools, the Terry Brooks Public Library, and other community spaces.  Meetings will be held that will be open to the public for their comments and to inform community members of the progress and assessment of the program.

As the program progresses, a weekly project newsletter will be posted in the library and made available to teachers involved with the program for distribution to students and colleagues.  This newsletter will also be posted to the programs page of the library’s web site.  Participants will be encouraged to write about their experiences so that their perspectives will be included on the programs page.

The final report and assessment of the project will be used in the preparation of a professional paper and spoken presentation.  The paper will be presented to professional educational or library journals for consideration for publication.  The presentation of the report and assessment will be given at library conferences as well as game industry conferences and conventions where it is accepted as a topic for discussion. 

PROJECT SUSTAINABILITY

The program will continue through the volunteer efforts of interested community members.  The library director who is overseeing the grant will also be donating time once the grant is over to ensure that children interested in the program are able to continue.  The materials needed for the project, i.e. the games will be in place, and the space will continue to be made available, so the only needed component will be interested community members to give time to the children.  The teachers who are part of the grant have expressed desire to ensure that this program is continued.

BUDGET EXPLANATION

Library Materials ($6000)
Books $40 apiece; at least 25 books = $1000
Games $50 apiece; at least 100 games = $5000

Professional contracts ($16,000)
Game designer, that has won the MENSA award for a game design ($2000)
Game designer, that has won the Educational Game of the Year for a game design ($2000)
Game designer, that will teach how to make a game, and have the participants create their own game ($2000)
Game designer, that is very interested in some particular historical time period ($2000)
Game advocate, employed in education, and using games to teach ($2000)
Game advocate, employed in education, and using games to teach ($2000)
Game advocate, employed in technology industry ($2000)
Game advocate, employed in other professional career ($2000)

Personnel ($3250)
Program Facilitator working on the program 10 hours per week, $130 per week, salary plus benefits, for 25 weeks ($3250)

Travel and CE for Staff ($500)
Two staff members going to a convention and attending meetings on the use of games in education, and meeting with game designers and producers.  Registration, travel, and lodgings total $500.

Public Relations ($1000)
Advertising in local newspaper, 5 separate ads.  Each ad will cost $200

Supplies, postage and printing ($1000)
Fliers $500
Informational handouts $500

Hans explains....
This is a paper I wrote this fall for my Administration and Management of Libraries and Information Centers.  It is a Grant Proposal for a public library in Illinois.  The LSTA grants are a real grant in Illinois, and my paper was written as if I was trying to get the grant.  You can contact Hans at hanskishel@gmail.com

© 2005 Tom Vasel

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