MinecraftEDU Winners Design Classrooms

A collage showing the three winners and a screenshot from one of the Minecraft classroom walkthroughs.

By Tim Reaves
BCS Communications Department

Buncombe County Schools students are having fun and building a better world at the same time!

For the first BCS MinecraftEDU Challenge, students in grades 3-12 used the popular game Minecraft to design classrooms that allow for physical distancing while remaining accessible to students with different learning styles and abilities.

Rising Valley Springs Middle School eighth-grader Daniel Romanowski won the grades 7-8 category. Rising sixth grader Katherine Rodrigue (North Windy Ridge Intermediate School) and rising third-grader Grace Rodrigue (North Buncombe Elementary School) teamed up to take the grades 5-6 category. Rising North Windy Ridge Intermediate fifth-grader Malcolm Wetmore (Barnardsville Elementary School) took the grades 3-4 category.

The BCS Minecraft Education Spring Challenge offers students the opportunity to lend their voice to finding solutions to current issues using the Minecraft platform, said BCS Digital Learning Facilitator Jennifer Hand. The classroom challenge presents a project-based, collaborative learning opportunity, encouraging students to solve tough problems around accessibility and safety in Minecraft: Education Edition and then share their solutions.

"Students are encouraged to be creative and innovative in their designs and think outside the box,” she said. “Our hope is to inspire students to stay motivated and engaged during the summer and have fun. Our June challenge takes them into space to create a new module for the Space Station.”

Congratulations, Daniel, Katherine, Grace, and Malcolm!

The Entries
Daniel Romanowski
Katherine Rodrigue and Grace Rodrigue
Malcolm Wetmore

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