What’s the deal with esports at Modesto City Schools?

Students of various backgrounds and ethnicities cheer, clapping loudly wearing their esports jerseys as they enter the esports gaming lab. Large-screen gaming computers with lighted keyboards that change colors every few seconds are turned on and prepped to start. Half the students put on headsets and grow quiet, trying to strategize to win a “League of Legends” game, while the other half are louder as they try to defeat their opponents in “Overwatch II.” The lab is filled with chatter and the constant tapping of keys.

These teenagers, along with students gaming in the 34 Modesto City Schools campuses, are among the approximately 1,750 participants in an esports program launched by the district in spring 2022.

Esports, short for electronic sports, is competitive video gaming and is rising in popularity among GenZ.

In October 2021, two students from Davis and Modesto high schools approached district administration about creating after-school esports clubs. Modesto City Schools’ Information and Educational Technology Services staff began researching gaming clubs, and the principals at Modesto and Davis found a couple of teachers at each site willing to be club advisers.

Please help put parents in charge of their child’s education by forwarding this article to other parents, family, friends and voters.
Hands holding the game controllers by JESHOOTS.COM is licensed under Unsplash unsplash.com

Other Articles

UnDisciplined: 'It's one of the most lonely feelings': The realities of mainstream schooling for deaf children
85% of deaf children attend mainstream public schools and many deaf advocates will say this is a good thing. Deafness is, after all, part of our society and deaf children need to be part of the world.
Read More
Time to retire the tainted, unfair basic skills test for teachers
From its origins in 1982, the California Basic Educational Skills Test, which purports to measure the universal reading, writing and math skills needed to perform in all the varied public school jobs requiring credentials, has been controversial for deterring tens of thousands of educators of color from entering the public school workforce.
Read More
Private child care in San Diego feeling the brunt of California's new free TK programs
Many teachers have left the private workforce to go work for Universal TK, compounding the teacher shortage
Read More
Welding is a way back to school for California kids who regularly ditch classes
Career training can win back disengaged students, a welding teacher says, but California erred by emphasizing college for all education.
Read More
Soaring chronic absenteeism in California schools is at ‘pivotal moment’
As a new school year gets underway in California, districts are desperately trying to lure thousands of missing, tardy and truant students back to the classroom in what many view as a pivotal moment for education in California.
Read More
'A Trifecta of Harm': Federal Judge Says California School District Can't Force Teachers To Lie to Parents About Gender Identity
A federal judge on Thursday blocked a San Diego-area school district from forcing teachers to lie about a child's gender identity to their parents.
Read More
Data theft plaguing K-12 schools after holiday season attacks
Schools across the U.S. remain fertile targets for hackers, with a slate of K-12 entities contending with cyberattacks and data thefts following the holiday season.
Read More
Attorneys Seek to Compel Calif. District to Reinstate Teachers
Attorneys for two San Diego middle school teachers who were put on administrative leave after refusing to abide by a school district policy regarding their students' gender identity are seeking to sanction the district for disobeying a court order to reinstate the teachers.
Read More

Get latest news delivered daily!

We will send you breaking news right to your inbox

© 2025 educationopportunity.org, Privacy Policy | FPPC #1460602