Students Coding & Earning Certification Thanks to Partnership

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – March 23, 2023

Students Coding & Earning Certification Thanks to Partnership between GLPS, Eaton RESA, Great Lakes Reality Labs, & Unity 

 
Grand Ledge, MI – Grand Ledge Public Schools, Eaton RESA, Great Lakes Reality Labs, and Unity are thrilled to announce that students at Grand Ledge High School will be learning to program using the Unity software platform and will be able to earn professional certification.  

Grand Ledge Public Schools, Eaton RESA, Great Lakes Reality Labs, and Unity are proud to have partnered to enhance the programming class taught by Tracy Clark.  Grand Ledge High School students will learn to code using the Unity platform while also improving valuable skills like problem solving, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking.  At the end of the class, students can take an exam to earn a “Certified User: Programmer” designation.  This certification is awarded directly from Unity and is well-recognized within the industry. 

“Students are benefiting a lot from this partnership,” said Tracy Clark.  “Tommy [Truong] from Great Lakes Reality Labs and Israel [Macias] from Unity have helped me prepare to teach the course and give students an excellent experience.”

Unity is the world’s leading platform for content creators, and its comprehensive set of software solutions supports them through the entire development lifecycle as they build, run, and grow immersive, real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices.  

“Learning Unity is an incredible opportunity for students and gives them a leg up when applying for high-demand programming jobs or game development jobs,” said Israel Macias from Unity.  “Unity is used to develop more than 50% of mobile games, and people played at least one game made with Unity on over 3 billion devices.”

“Our partnership began this fall.” said Bill Barnes, Superintendent of GLPS.  “Jim Curran, founder of Great Lakes Reality Labs, and Sean Williams, Superintendent of Eaton RESA, invited our school team to tour Haptix Studios’ digital experience lab and motion capture studio.  That visit inspired us to collaborate and develop a pilot program to give students the opportunity to learn skills and earn industry credentials in high school for the jobs of tomorrow.”

“Partnerships between schools and businesses make experiences better for students,” said Jim Curran, founder of Great Lakes Reality Labs.  “We hope this successful pilot with GLPS will encourage other schools to partner up and provide courses in the booming world of virtual and augmented reality technologies.”

Almost 60 GLHS students started Tracy Clark’s programming class on March 20, 2023, when GLHS’s third trimester began.