Outside the Lines of Code: Josh Bound & Chambersburg Esports – December 2021
Emerald Esports recognizes the positive impact gaming has on a community as a whole. In this weekly series, Outside the Lines of Code, we will highlight the individuals, teams and clubs effecting change, building community relationships, and spreading the positivity of utilizing video games in education. Venture outside the realm of gameplay and into the “in real life” relationships, stories of inspiration, and the results of utilizing video games as a vehicle for learning, teamwork and collaboration.
This week we highlight Josh Bound, the manager of the Chambersburg Esports team. Josh stepped outside the lines of code with his efforts and dedication to incubate a video game club for his students at the Chambersburg Career Magnet School. The story begins with his deep yearning to connect with his son who navigates a life on the autism spectrum. When Josh saw his son playing video games for the first time, he witnessed the positive effect it had on his son’s ability to interact with others. It was the easter egg he had been searching for for a long time. Video gaming later became a topic of conversation in his classroom at Chambersburg Career Magnet School. In turn, it led to one of his students presenting the idea for a gaming club. Video games could be an essential tool to building real world skills. Playing video games together is an excellent way to connect with others in a safe place, learn communication skills, teamwork and develop problem solving skills. Josh worked together with a few students, put together a gaming club of 12 members in one day. This club has grown to around 100 members with a focus on promoting Social Emotional Learning through games and gaming culture. Josh and the students also started a 501c3 non-profit, Video Game Clubs of America, with a mission to get a video game club in every school across the country. They have also put their gaming talents to use in a philanthropic ways by hosting video game marathons to raise money for a family who lost their young son to leukemia, to purchase gaming equipment for the a pediatric unit of a local hospital, volunteering and making memorable moments with senior citizens in the community by engaging with them in video game play.
As we continue the development of eSports programs for those on the spectrum, Emerald Esports is proud to recognize that it’s people like Josh Bound and clubs like Chambersburg Career Magnet School and VGC USA who, through their evolution, show us exactly how powerful a tool video games can be when utilized for all the right reasons…when it goes further than virtual world gameplay.
To dive deeper into Josh’s story check out hisTedXLancasterTalk here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/josh_bound_making_the_socially_awkward_socially_active/up-next
Follow Josh:
Facebook: @joshuabound
Twitter: @josh_bound
Follow Video Games of America:
Facebook: @VGCUSA
Instagram: @vcgusa
Twitter: @vgcusa
Follow Chambersburg Area Career Magnet School:
Website: https://www.casdonline.org/CMS
Facebook: @chambersburgareacareermagnetschool
Chambersburg Video Game Club: https://www.casdonline.org/Page/17161
Interested in launching an eSports club at your school or community center? Visit Emerald Esports Club Registration page to get started: https://esports.emeralde.org/esports-clubs/registration/
Follow Emerald Esports:
Facebook: @emeraldesports
Instagram: @emerald.fdn.esports
Twitter: @emeraldesports
Twitter: @emeraldesports
