CCSD Pathway Profile - Information Technology: Game Design

The Cherokee County School District has increased its Career Pathway high school programs, which provide students with a wide selection of job exploration and preparation electives, to 41 this school year.  Through CCSD Pathway Profiles, we’ll profile each of the three new programs over the next month … this week’s profile focuses on the Information Technology: Game Design program at Etowah High School.

Teacher Guill Strougo uses his knowledge of game design to help students score careers in this growing and lucrative technology field.

The Etowah High School teacher broke ground nationally as an early adopter for transforming the popular Minecraft video game into an educational tool.  This school year, he leveled up again by launching CCSD’s new Career Pathway in Information Technology: Game Design program at Etowah High School.

“Game design not only teaches students how to design and develop games, but also how to design, develop, collaborate and execute plans to develop software, problem solve and time management -- all skills that are crucial in any career,” said the 20-year teacher, who is in his fifth year teaching computer science programs.  

Mr. Strougo said he loves seeing his students solve problems. 

“I enjoy watching the students finally begin to understand their code.  That ‘aha’ moment when they are trying to get their game to perform a certain task and have been troubleshooting it for a while, and then realize how to make it happen,” he said.  “That is my favorite part of teaching this class.”

Etowah HS senior Jacob Ballew is one of Mr. Strougo’s students in the program.

“After graduating college, I plan on working for some engineering firm, and I feel like this class helped me a lot with problem solving,” he said.

Within the Pathway, classes offered include: Introduction to Software Technology; Computer Science Principles or AP Computer Science Principles; Game Design: Animation and Simulation

Students can earn Microsoft Office Specialist and Unity Certified Associate industry certification and can compete with the school’s Technology Student Association, Georgia FIRST Robotics and SkillsUSA teams in regional, state and national career competitions.

This Pathway prepares students for careers including, but not limited to: game designer, game developer, mobile app designer, special effects artist, game tester, character designer, level designer, game writer, game audio engineer, multimedia specialist. 

The average income range for careers in this Pathway in Georgia is $51,000 to $123,000.  Local and area employers for this Pathway include, but are not limited to: EQ Games, PrizePicks, The Escape Game Atlanta, Comcast Corporation, Paranoia Quest, Warner Bros Discovery, Chick-fil-A Inc., Dolby, Pulseworks, iFuturz, NICE Systems, Lionheart Games, Emory University, FanDuel, Launch Media Network, Kava LLC. 

Learn more about all of CCSD’s Career Pathways online at https://cherokeek12net.finalsite.com/divisions/curriculum-instruction/career-technical-agricultural-education

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