Growing a Global Scholastic Esports Community

Chris Aviles is a teacher at Keyport high school in Keyport, New Jersey where he runs the renowned Red Raider Trading & Gaming program and Red Raiders esports team. He is also the founder of Garden State Esports, New Jersey's non-profit scholastic esports organization for students, run by teachers. 

As a former educator of 14.5 years, I was able to build a computer science path and an esports program within my urban high school. I taught AP Computer Science, and saw the importance of college level courses in high schools for student success. Then I found my new role at Harrisburg University as the Director of Secondary Services, where I get to continue advocating for dual enrollment and college in the high school opportunities for students. I also assist in STEM learning programs and workforce development for high school teens.

Claire LaBeaux is the Chief Marketing Officer for NASEF. She has spearheaded efforts to raise awareness of the benefits of scholastic esports as NASEF grew from a small regional pilot in 2018 to its current status as the Network of Academic and Scholastic Esports Federations (headquartered in the United States with affiliates around the world). Claire amplifies the work of educators who leverage esports for combined play and meaningful learning. She also helps parents, administrators, and the esports industry understand the benefits of scholastic esports. Claire is program manager for Farmcraft, MENAcraft, Beyond the Game challenges, and more.

Along with Josh Combs and Jessica Roque, Peter Whitmore has created one of the largest district Esports programs in the U.S. Mr. Whitmore has served in education since 1999 as a classroom teacher, instructional coach, site administrator, and district administrator. For three years in between, he worked for a private educational technology company, traveling across the United States to help educators use assessments and data to transform their instruction for students. He is married to Sonia, his college sweetheart. Together they have a brood of three boys, two cats, two chickens, and a crested gecko.

Joseph Williams is a technology instructional coach in the Laveen Elementary School District in Laveen, Arizona. He has coached middle school esports for the last 4 years, runs Laveen Community Game Nights featuring Fortnite, and is a founding member of the Western Region Middle School Esports Conference, a free esports conference for middle schools in Pacific and Mountain time zones that is run by teachers.