QLASH returns to school, but this time on the other side of the desk. In fact, from 3rd to 7th June, ten students of the Istituto Martino Martini of Mezzolombardo (Trento) will be the protagonists of QLASH Education, a school-work project that will try and teach them to create and manage a real esports tournament.

From Sports to Esports

For a whole week, the last of the school year, the classrooms of the Istituto Martino Martini, a school with an international sports background, will welcome the QLASH team and will be transformed, at least for a while, into a sort of small Dreamhack. Under the direction of Claudia Galingani Mongini, Luca ‘Bertels’ Bertelli and Alessio Paoletti, ten students will work at all stages - from concept, through design and execution of a video game tournament, to which their classmates can participate.

We will set a market analysis simulation (to discover which are the students’ favourite videogames), choose the tournament regulation and format, produce graphics, press releases and posts on social networks to complete the cycle of a real world environment. For four days the students will work to create the event and on Friday, June 7th, it will run accordingly.

There will also be professional and illustrious guests, such as, Salvatore Pergolesi, the art director of QLASH, who will give a lecture and workshop on videomaking and photography.

The QLASH Education Project

The school-work in Mezzolombardo will be the first official adventure that happens "on the field" of the QLASH Education project, coordinated for Italy by Claudio Poggi and the already mentioned Claudia Galingani Mongini and Luca ‘Bertels’ Bertelli. A project that has led and will continue to lead the QLASH team to high schools throughout Italy, to explain the esports industry and to promote a correct and conscious use of videogames.

"We started this project at the end of 2018," explains Claudio Poggi. "And in just a few months we have explained our initiative even to school administrators in the regions of Trentino Alto Adige and Emilia Romagna. Now we launch this school-work experience that we hope will be the first one of a long and successful series".

"It was not easy for us to be taken seriously at an institutional level, because when you talk about videogames in Italy, everyone turns up their noses a bit," added Luca Bertelli, captain of the Hearthstone Pro Team. "But we strongly believe in this project and Martino Martini is our starting point”.

A happy Claudia Mongini, social media manager of QLASH, also shared her thoughts: "QLASH Education has just been born and there is still a lot of work to do, but we are beginning to reap the first fruits. I'm sure it will be a fantastic experience, both for the students and for ourselves".

The Istituto Martino Martini of Mezzolombardo

The Istituto Martino Martini is a true pride of the territory. In 2012, the new and modern office in Via Perlasca was inaugurated: a cutting-edge structure, almost futuristic, equipped with everything a student might want to complete his training effectively.

The building, in fact, was built according to criteria based on energy saving and environmental sustainability, and hosts over 600 students in bright and spacious environments, with equipped laboratories, a large gym, an auditorium and large green areas outside.

The training is enriched by the adoption of educational tools designed to raise awareness of a correct energy consumption, as well as to enhance alternative resources with activities aimed at promoting sustainability and energy efficiency.

What’s the school-work alternation?

School-work alternation is an innovative teaching method, which through practical experience helps to consolidate the knowledge acquired at school and test the attitudes of students and students in the field, to enrich their education and guide their study path, thanks to projects in line with their curriculum.

School-work alternation, compulsory in Italy for all female students and students in the last three years of high school, including high schools, is one of the most significant innovations of the law 107 of 2015 (La Buona Scuola) in line with the principle of open school.