Supporting the local kids: Middie Game Center rewards hard-working students - Hamilton Journal News

The “Middie Game Center” is equipped with 5 high-performance gaming PCs, 2 Nintendo Switch consoles, an Xbox and 2 virtual world interactive headsets, with dedicated spaces for each device. All of it is contained successful a country halfway betwixt the assemblage center’s main entranceway and its cafeteria.

“This is not conscionable a spot wherever kids tin travel and game,” said Matt King, the room’s designer. “All of these machines are really hooked up to a gaming bundle wherever we really grant the kids points, and [those points] unlock time. So, if they don’t bash their homework, they don’t get to play.”

This facet of “gamifying” kids’ affirmative achievements was captious for King and his concern spouse Stephen Hightower II — who unneurotic founded the Middletown-based King-Hightower Strategies selling and strategy firm. They were the 2 who locked down the $25,000 anonymous donation to renovate the room.

Hightower II, successful particular, was shaped by the halfway portion increasing up. For him, it was a assemblage staple wherever helium connected with relation models successful Middletown, including his father, Stephen Hightower Sr., the laminitis of Hightowers Petroleum Co.

“It was ever a spot wherever you learnt,” Hightower II said. “The generations supra us, … they were ever bringing america present to thatch america astir our history, thatch america astir business, astir manners — conscionable each kinds of things.”

“It was ever a harmless spot to go, and it was ever similar home,” Hightower II said.

And, that portion has remained existent of the assemblage halfway to this day. The halfway inactive offers the aforesaid respite and the aforesaid accidental to make assemblage that it did erstwhile helium was a kid.

But, not overmuch astatine the assemblage halfway has changed successful the clip since to accommodate today’s kids. In his presumption present arsenic a section businessman and father, Hightower II felt that the halfway could usage a peculiar task that would bring kids to the halfway the aforesaid mode helium was brought to it.

Hightower II and King searched for the close thought to bring to the center, and immoderate friends besides wanted to assistance the cause. Once King and Hightower II landed connected the gaming country and pitched it, an anonymous-to-the-public person said, “I’m in,” and funded it, according to Hightower II.

As Hightower II and the Community Building Institute’s Executive Director Karin Maney tells it, the gaming country is specifically invaluable due to the fact that it tin bring successful younger kids who mightiness not different beryllium drawn to the antecedently sports-heavy Sonny Hill.

“There are a batch of kids that aren’t gonna bash sports. This is an accidental for america to drawback the kids that aren’t into athletics,” Maney said.

“You request to conscionable them wherever they’re at,” Hightower II said. “Videogames and gaming — I person a nine-year-old lad and it’s each helium does.”

Hightower II said gaming tin beryllium a mode to get younger kids into the assemblage halfway astatine a peculiarly important age.

“You privation to get nine, 10 and 11 year-olds present earlier they person different options that are not positive,” Hightower II said. “Just get them successful here, and present they person a harmless place. And then, we’re capable to statesman to mentor and foster their imaginable portion they’re here.”

Once Hightower II and King locked down the funding, they wanted to bring their thought to beingness promptly, earlier the halfway undergoes a monolithic renovation and enlargement adjacent twelvemonth with $8.1 cardinal from Middletown Schools, the City of Middletown and the Butler County Commissioners.

“We didn’t privation to wait, we wanted to bash thing close away,” King said. “It’s been a agelong clip since this country has had this overmuch life, and erstwhile you locomotion successful you tin conscionable consciousness it.”

The palpable excitement surrounding Middie Game Center is indicative of the excitement of what’s adjacent for the Robert “Sonny” Hill Jr. Community Center arsenic it celebrates its 80th anniversary. This influx of concern that’s focused connected exertion is successful enactment with the renovations acceptable to instrumentality spot adjacent year, Middletown City Manager Paul Lolli said.

“This is conscionable the commencement of a large task that’s going to beryllium going connected down present connected this full property,” Lolli said. “The aboriginal we’re gonna person — with the remodeling and the gathering of what’s to travel — [is] going to contiguous our younker with the accidental to execute some academically and socially.”

Maney and Lolli some said the new-look Sonny Hill halfway volition beryllium a spot that hopes to gully the full assemblage in.

“It’s gonna beryllium a assemblage halfway for everybody successful Middletown,” Maney said.

With a caller technological focus, unit astatine the halfway is hoping to physique greater workforce improvement programs that gradually, and sometimes subliminally, tin assistance hole Middletown kids for the jobs of contiguous and tomorrow.

Marie Edwards, the out-of-school programme manager astatine Sonny Hill, said the halfway plans to proceed to turn the Middie Game Center programme and additionally supply resources for folks to larn however to program, code, oregon adjacent physique a machine erstwhile renovations are complete.

At immoderate point, the gathering volition person a dedicated, full-time worker managing and directing Middie Game Center, idiosyncratic who “can assistance physique retired this program,” Edwards said.

As for Edwards, she’s excited astir the summation of the crippled room. Edwards, too, grew up going to Sonny Hill and has been an worker for implicit a decade.

“I’m excited due to the fact that our students are getting thing that they deserve,” Edwards said. “They get to travel to a gathering wherever they are wanted. They are encouraged to travel in, they are invited here, and they [now] person thing particularly for them.”

“This shows that hey, idiosyncratic truly made an investment. It’s not a hand-me-down, [it’s not something] idiosyncratic got escaped of retired of their store oregon their basement,” Edwards said. “No, idiosyncratic truly took the clip to invest, and spot what the kids needed and wanted, and they made it happen.”