The Iowa JAG (iJAG) program takes on many projects each year. They fundraise, they volunteer and they have service learning projects that teach the JAG students skills such as teamwork, problem solving, and leadership skills. One such project that the iJAG students took on was inspired by Caine’s Arcade an internet sensation.
For three weeks, the Mason City iJAG students worked in teams to design, engineer, and build, arcade games with duct tape and cardboard boxes. The students took their arcade games to Lincoln Intermediate for 5th and 6th grade students to play during the PBIS Celebration they have in November.
The iJAG students enlisted three sets of judges to evaluate the arcade games. The first judge was the Associate Principal of Mason City High School Dan Arjes is a former art teacher. He provided the students feedback on the design/appearance of their creation. iJAG Regional Supervisor Tyler Walker evaluated the students on their teamwork skills. Then the second set of judges was Construction Engineer Tyler Mensink and Architect Mike McLennan from Dean Snyder Construction in Clear Lake, Iowa. They provided the students with some assistance in structural and design ideas for the project. The final judges were the 5th and 6th grade students at Lincoln Intermediate who played the games. Each student was given a “Fun Pass” on which they rated games on a scale from 1-5. A majority of the games received a rating of 5.
The iJAG students were proud of their arcade and realized that the project brought joy to the younger students. The Arcade turned out to be a great learning experience and a big success.
Photo: iJAG students building arcade games