We had the pleasure of interviewing Cindy Phillips, the Lead Teacher of the Academy of Finance, North Miami Senior High School in Miami, Florida. Hear Cindy's story about how she got involved with scholastic esports, and her first-hand account describing the launch of her high school esports club. To learn more about the Florida Scholastic Esports League, visit https://www.flsel.org

We spoke with Dr. Tony Gragnani, president of the Missouri High School Esports Association and principal of Hickman High School to discuss MHSEA, scholastic esports, and the enthusiasm that he sees across the state. 

Learn from Haylesh Patel, Esports Physiologist for UC Irvine's Esports Team about the work he does to help keep esports athletes physically and mentally healthy for practice and competition. This is a great episode for any student considering a career in physiology in the world of esports!

Justin Shaifer is the Founder and Executive Director of Fascinate Inc. an organization created to excite underrepresented students about STEM. He is a TV host, internationally-known keynote speaker, and incredibly creative! Learn about Justin's journey as a young man in a single-parent household in the south side of Chicago, the role gaming had for him, and how he became a role model for young men and women everywhere.

This week, NASEF is proud to announce an exciting collaboration with the British Esports Association. This partnership will help benefit students and educators in both North America and Great Britain. In this episode of the Game to Grow Podcast, Tom Turner, Gerald Solomon, and Tom Dore discuss how this collaboration will positively impact scholastic esports for our two organizations.

On this episode of the Game to Grow Podcast, COO Samantha Anton joins our Commissioner Mark Deppe in the studio to discuss what's ahead for the 2019-2020 season at NASEF. Learn about the exciting news on competitions, Scholastic Fellows program, as well as international partnerships that are on the horizon. 

Mark Deppe interviews Professional Esports Commentator Erik "DoA" Lonnquist, to get his insights based on over 10 years of experience within the gaming industry. "DoA" provides some fun anecdotes about his gaming background, how he became a commentator, and advice for young people with a desire to get into the industry and might be torn about choosing an educational path. Students, parents, and educators will get a lot out of this interview!

Michael Sherman, the College Program Lead at Riot Games joins NASEF Commissioner Mark Deppe to discuss what's happening in esports on the college level. Mark and Michael discuss efforts to include more women in esports, as well as the goals of the Riot Scholastic Association of America. If you're involved with high school esports, you'll want to hear this episode to learn what's happening on the next level! 

"If we don't listen to their voice, and don't understand their behaviors and try to bring education to them via a format that is engaging, we will continue to use them and I think that is the power of this platform and esports." In this special #GametoGrow Podcast episode, we are joined by Gerald Solomon, Founder of NASEF and Executive Director of the Samueli Foundation, and Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the fourth largest school system in the United States. Miami-Dade CPS is the latest of school districts to embrace the opportunities of connecting esports and education. Under Superintendent Carvalho's leadership, they are embracing the NASEF platform to enhance student learning, create career pathways, and develop better individuals within the classroom and in life.

This special episode is in collaboration with James O'Hagan's very own podcast, The Academy of Esports. Be sure to check out James O'Hagan on Twitter and SoundCloud! James O'Hagan is the Director of Digial & Virtual Learning in the Racine Unified School District in Wisconsin, and is a passionate influencer in the scholastic esports space. In this episode, Commissioner Mark Deppe and James O'Hagan share stories on their experiences on bringing esports into the education space and how we can keep students on the path of success.