MOCAH’s ArtKidTeks program debuted at Edison Middle School. Lead by instructor Toni Garciarivas, a group of 14 Edison students were guided through the use of Sim City4, an interactive video game designed to teach participants how to build, develop and manage virtual communities and cities. Each participant was responsible for designing and constructing the most habitable, profitable and prosperous city they could as a final test. Each student represented a region, each sharing and competing for resources usually unbeknownst by the average citizen, much less, youth. Each student was also responsible for making decisions to deploy emergency services and had to deal with issues such as basic infrastructure; pollution from industries; striking mobs; traffic; and considerations for forms of housing and job opportunities. By using a video game to introduce youth to technology, the participants learned how to manipulate a computer while also learning the dynamics of constructing their own city; taking advice from city council, managing a city budget and providing their city’s residents with the infrastructure and amenities that make their community prosper or perish.

The instructor, Antonio Garciarivas,has an educational background as an electronics engineer and graduated from the Monterrey Superior Institute of Technology. Mr. Garcia Rivas also had experience in teaching basic education techniques and survival computer science. Once the program was complete, the instructor gave the students a questionnaire to measure their level of comprehension of the project. Their written responses prove a very high 98% level of comprehension.

Funds provided by the HITEK grant were allocated for expenses related directly to the technology classes for SimCity. The additional community partners and stakeholders committed to participate in this project were The Powel Foundation and the After School All Stars Foundation.