Students to design their own Surrey park in annual Minecraft Challenge

In a city known for its parks, Surrey and White Rock students will now have the opportunity to create their own thanks to this year’s Surrey Schools Minecraft Challenge.

With past challenges that asked students to build a local bridge and recreate a school, this year’s contest encourages them to explore a more environmental build by designing their ideal park.

“Students are encouraged to think about their own communities and neighbourhoods and create a park that would fit their needs,” said Gareth Poon, the district’s technology helping teacher and challenge founder.

With things like tree density, wildlife, trails and other amenities such as playgrounds, water features and even bathrooms to consider, Poon is hopeful students will gain an appreciation and understanding of what goes into creating the parks in their communities.

“Minecraft has a lot of great tools for creating diverse natural environments, so we’re excited to see what they can come up with as they work together on their builds,” he said.

Last year’s event saw 95 student teams from 27 schools take part and Poon anticipates this year’s challenge will see even more groups participate.

As with previous challenges, there will be three categories based on grade: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-7) and Secondary (8-12). Teams have until March 8 to submit their builds and winners will be announced in April. Finalists will then take part in a district Minecraft Celebration in May.
 
For more information on this year’s challenge, including build guidelines, visit the challenge website here.