Wayne-Westland Kids Can Game Themselves Into A Future Career

WESTLAND (WWJ) - Parents often worry that their kids spend too much time playing their favorite video games, but it may not be such a waste of time after all. Students in the Wayne-Westland Schools could turn their passion for video games into a future career.

Wayne-Westland School Superintendent Greg Baracy says video design and programming is one of 22 technical programs that are part of the district's award-winning William D. Ford Career Technical Center. Baracy says the Center helps prepare students for college and the global workplace of the future.

"Whether it's game design and programming, alternative energy, EMT and Firefighting, or the expanded health care options," said Baracy, "there's a technical program for every student's interests and every student's career aspirations."

Since students are already interested in video games, Baracy said it's easy to get them excited about the game design and programming area. "They get extremely motivated, even more so, when they realize that they can change some of those games or design their own," said Baracy. "And the potential for finding a job or even a career in that field is phenomenal."

And Baracy adds that the kids are learning about designing autonomous vehicles that can actually drive themselves. "They're trying to get some of those autonomous vehicles they're building on a smaller scale to communicate with one another or connect to the Cloud as they prepare themselves for a possible future career in the auto industry," said Baracy.