Emerald Esports December Extravaganza 2019 Sendoff Event

(LANCASTER, PA – December 4, 2019) - The Emerald Foundation is excited to announce the December Extravaganza esports tournament, held Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15 from 10:00 am.-6:00 p.m. at the Emerald Foundation, 2120 Oregon Pike, Lancaster, 17061.

Here, clubs of students will be competing in current top video game titles including: Overwatch, Fortnite, League of Legends, and Rocket League. High School Clubs will include Manheim Township, La Academia Partnership Charter School, Bishop McDevitt High School, Lancaster Catholic High School, Conrad Weiser, Lampeter Strasburg, Collegium Charter School, Ephrata High School, Stone Independence School, Lehigh University and Conestoga Valley High School.

As a committed leader in empowering and educating students, the Emerald Foundation has partnered with the North American Scholastic Esports Federation, (NASEF) to bridge the skills gap in graduates through Esports -- an organized video-game environment where students learn academic and life skills.

Assistant Principal of Manheim Township, Lisa Lyons says, “Esports has given our students a unique platform in which to grow, focusing on teamwork through collaboration and communication.”

While playing, students are honing valuable soft skills needed in the contemporary and future job market: critical thinking, leadership, teamwork, and collaboration. Esports also facilitate technical skill development including scientific reasoning, math, technology fluency, and visual acuity are also highlighted. As a result, graduates are exploring career paths and connecting with resources through a medium that is a ubiquitous part of their lives.

President of the Lancaster Chamber, Tom Baldrige fully supports video game play, “For those of you in esports, I’m here to tell you, I 100 percent guarantee that there is a job for you in Lancaster county that meets the skills and the training that you’re getting right now in esports.”

About the Emerald Foundation

The Emerald Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2010 by Emerald Asset Management CEO & Founder Joseph Besecker and Martha Besecker. The Emerald Foundation has historically contributed funding to worthy charitable, non-profit organizations that focus on education, youth, and healthcare research. Learn more at https://emeralde.org/. Founded in 1991, Emerald Asset Management subsidiaries provide equity-focused portfolio management services to institutional investors and to individual investors via separate account management and the Emerald Mutual Funds.

About the North America Scholastic Esports Federation 

The North America Scholastic Esports Federation is working to ensure that ALL students possess the knowledge and skills needed to be society’s game changers: educated, productive, and empathetic individuals. NASEF is on a mission to provide opportunities for ALL students to use esports as a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life. The Federation’s core values are intertwined through all aspects of education and play: learning, opportunity, community, diversity, and respect.

Under the Samueli Foundation’s leadership, the Federation is led by partners from the Orange County Department of Education, OC STEM Initiative, Connected Camps, Connected Learning Lab, UCI Esports, UCI Henry Samueli School of Engineering, and the UCI Bren School of Information & Computer Science. 

Learn more at the NASEF website. Members of the press can find videos, infographics, and leadership profiles in the online press room. Join online conversations on Twitter @NASEFgg for esports updates and @NASEFedu for our education news, on Facebook and Instagram, and see matches streamed live on our Twitch channel. 

Media Contacts:

Brianna Titi
Emerald Foundation
(717) 951-2512
[email protected]

Stu Jeffcoat
Emerald Foundation
(717) 693-2204
[email protected]