The Greater Maple Valley Community Center’s Youth Council Program received a grant from Evergreen Council on Problem Gambling and the Washington State Behavioral Health and Services Integration Administration to create a game app and song to promote gambling awareness.

Youth Council is a leadership program that meets on Mondays and helps host safe events for teens and participates in different prevention projects. For this project we created story boards for each game in the app. We had several brainstorming sessions to determine if the ideas would work or if we needed to change them. We created characters using a bamboo tablet to draw them and videotaped each scene. Using the green screen, we then created backgrounds.

For the song, we brainstormed different lyrics and beats. Once the lyrics came together, we worked on Garage Band to create an original beat and then we recorded our students many times until the song was complete. The game app and song highlight different warning signs, how to set and stick to limits, how to have a balance in life, and finally, address what problem gambling is and who it affects.

We presented our project at the Washington State Spring Forum at the Great Wolf Lodge, and for the third year in a row, we won our room and were entered into a drawing to win a scholarship for the team. Our students were so excited for this wonderful opportunity.

We want to encourage everyone to check out our game. On your computer, type in this link: http://arcade.gamesalad.com/g/121826.

The game will soon be available on the iPhone app store. If you have a gambling problem or know someone who needs help, please call 1-800-547-6133.

Megan Cope

Senior Youth Council Member