Friday Minecraft Club

One of the most common questions I get asked in ODE from inquiring parents is 'What social outlets do the students have in Distance Education?' Aside from the Home Room Teleconferences and Chess Club, I am always excited to tell them about the Minecraft Club held on Friday afternoons. This is a student initiative that has continued on from last year and exploded in popularity this year! Amos George (Year 9) and his team of admins have done a stellar job of organising fun challenges and managing their peers by coming up with a code of conduct as a group to promote fair play and online etiquette.

I asked Amos and his admins to share some of the back story around the club:

Some History - Amos George, Head admin

The ODE Minecraft Club was first started by Joseph Pitavanik or as students called him, Mr P. It started as building challenges that really showed students' imaginative thinking.

The next term, the club was sadly shut down because of some different events that were going on. Myself and my best friend Hannah Combe, missed doing the club and we came up with the idea of starting our own Yr8 Minecraft club. The idea was a hit with the teachers and we organised our first challenge called Hide or War. The idea was to incorporate the building challenges along with the excitement of PvP (Player vs Player). The next week we brought the club to the school instead of keeping it for Year 8s only.

Unfortunately, we have no footage of the first event, but new friends were formed and our first admins were signed up including my right hand person Mikayla. From there, we've had many different admins and challenges over the months. The club has been a pleasure to run, and though it might get tough at times, I have always had my friends and admins to back me up.

Today's Club - Mikayla Thomas, Head Admin

ODE Minecraft Club has been a great success over the last 9 months. Every Friday afternoon from 2:30-3:30 has been a challenge of its own. Helping Amos run this club has taught me many things. I learnt how to work as a team and be more responsible.

When I officially joined the club in Term 3 of last year, there were about 7 other students joining. Now in Term 1 of 2022, we get about 28 kids joining each session, ranging from Primary students to Seniors in High School. Everyone has a fun time even if the connection is slow. We work hard to make fun and interactive challenges that will bring students together and help them make friends.

One of our newer admins said: "The ODE Minecraft club is amazing, they always care for others and help them when they are sad or lonely in the game. The Club also helped me to make friends. 2 of our regular attending kids in Primary told me, "I enjoy the Minecraft club. It is very fun. Last year we had many cool events like a PvP tournament and the Christmas finale.

This year we had a battle between the pirates and the British navy. I really enjoyed that and think it's a great experience." "I think the Minecraft club is awesome. I love the creative ideas the admins come up with every week and I really love it. It's also a great way to end the week."