Today, the New York Videogame Critics Circle is proud to announce its inaugural scholarship program, the winner of which will be revealed at the New York Game Awards on February 9, 2016. The scholarship will be presented in conjunction with The DreamYard Preparatory High School, a vibrant Bronx school which provides a rigorous arts integrated curriculum that emphasizes problem solving and critical thinking while deepening students’ understanding of all subject areas.

“DreamYard is thrilled to partner with the New York Videogame Critics Circle on this scholarship contest,” said Tim Lord, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of The DreamYard. “We believe that the arts and social justice education can help young people build pathways to opportunity. But it is only through partnerships like this, with a respected tech and business partner organization who believe our Bronx youth can be the next leaders in gaming and coding and design, that we can actually connect that pathway to lasting opportunity.”

The Circle’s membership believes that narrative is one of the last frontiers in videogames. So the contest asks students to write a videogame story which is different from traditional types and stereotypes. Also, students still don’t know how to get a job in games. “Even after the contest ends and recipients are named, we won’t stop going to schools like the DreamYard to spread the word about games and games careers,” said Harold Goldberg, the journalist who founded the New York Videogame Critics Circle. “We will continue our drive to inform and educate students during the course of the year.”

The winners will be announced at the 5th Annual New York Game Awards to be held at Villain in Williamsburg at 8 p.m. on the evening of February 9, 2016 which will be streamed throughout the world via Twitch. Sponsors of the scholarship include Twitch in the U.S. and Green Man Gaming in the U.K. More sponsors will be announced soon.

The New York Videogame Critics Circle is a diverse, multicultural group that includes the area’s finest writers. From The New York Times to CNET to Mashable, we come together to advocate for our journalists and to do some good in the varied community that is New York City. For a full list of our members, go to http://nygamecritics.com/members/.

The New York Game Awards is a yearly event in which the Emmy Award winning writers from The Daily Show with Trevor Noah collaborate with members of The Circle to laud games the year’s best videogames — and to poke a little fun as well.

Contact: Harold Goldberg, Founder, NYVGCC