It is no longer really a secret that North Winnipeg’s Sisler High School has become a hot bed of interactive digital media (IDM) instruction.
Three years ago when Ubisoft was scouting Winnipeg as a potential location for its triple-A video game development studio, company officials toured the high school’s labs where more than one third of the 1,900 students there are engaged in some of the broad assortment of IDM courses offered.

This week more than 300 students from grades four to 12 from 26 schools across the city are at Sisler taking part in a game development experience, called Game On.
Instructors from the prestigious Vancouver Film School (VFS) were on hand for the occasion. As well, about one quarter of Ubisoft’s entire Winnipeg staff were there as mentors and facilitors and another half dozen professionals from across the city were in attendance lending support and encouragement.
Since 2015, Sisler has gone all-in offering courses that develop the creative and technical skills needed for one of the most obvious and desired sources of employment for young people — the video gaming industry.

‘What they are doing at Sisler showed us that Winnipeg was a hidden gem for the gaming industry that we were looking for.’— Daryl Long, Ubisoft Winnipeg’s managing director

Many credit Sisler’s long time principal, George Heshka — who has been principal at the school since 1980 — for having the foresight to dig in and develop the interactive digital media (IDM) program. He, in turn, was fortunate to have Jamie Leduc, who effectively created the program, on his staff.
Over the last few years, officials from the likes of Pixar and Disney and many other industry players have come to Sisler to give workshops. Lasting impressions are being made all the time. Many students are more demonstrably engaged in creative pursuits than is likely to be found at the average high school.
With a staff of seven teachers, Sisler students have the chance to take classes in everything from film-making, visual effects, VR (virtual reality) development, game design, classical animation, 3-D animation, augmented reality development, sound design… the list goes on.
“There are a whole bunch of different pathways for the students,” Leduc said. “We teach all sorts of employable skills that we can help them develop in the arts. It may sound crazy, but there has never been a better time to go into the arts than today.”
Students at the opening of the two-day Game On event sat in rapt attention as John Meadows, an instructor from Vancouver Film School — which has given out about $400,000 in scholarships to Sisler grads — went through a 15-minute presentation about the fundamentals of creating a story and characters for video games.
Anthony Grieco, head of curriculum and program development at VFS, said “What Jamie Leduc and his team at Sisler have done is a model that schools across the country can and should be following.”

With sponsorship for Game On from VFS, Ubisoft, New Media Manitoba and participation from a handful of other industry partners, it shows the successful outreach that is occurring at Sisler
Pauline Clarke, chief superintendent of Winnipeg School Division, said the school division is supportive of the efforts as much as it can, for instance, making sure it has the kind of teachers the school needs. (Leduc said everyone at the school was pumped about recently winning a $210,000 grant application from the province to acquire some new equipment.) Also, she said, the division actively pursues partnerships with industry where the schools can work collaboratively with industries that have a future in Winnipeg
“We fund them (at Sisler) to the best of our ability,” she said. “The other thing we have done is support the partnerships which are key. And this is a particularly successful example of that.”
In its brief history in Winnipeg, Ubisoft, the Paris-based international video game production house that has studios around the world, has already been active in its outreach in the community.
Daryl Long, Ubisoft Winnipeg’s managing director, said, “What they are doing at Sisler showed us that Winnipeg was a hidden gem for the gaming industry that we were looking for.”
But more than just being self-serving, Long sees the bigger picture in what they are doing at Sisler.
“Over the next five to 10 years every single industry will become a tech industry – from agriculture to sales, engineering, the auto industry, music… they are all going to require the kinds of skills Sisler is teaching,” he said.

Sounding far more experienced than her 15 years, Nichaela Jackson, a grade 10 Sisler student said she already thinks she wants to pursue a career in game design. Her courses are more concentrated on learning the code that builds the games but she’s planning to also get into the art and design side.
“This is my first year actually doing C # coding, which is different than click and drag using Construct 2, (coding platform)” she said. “It’s tough to learn at first but it’s definitely fun.”
Jemimah Suba, a grade 11 student at Sisler, said all of her electives are in the IDM program. She leans toward the animation and conceptual art classes.
She she is hoping to attend VHS where the 12-month program, can cost as much as $25,000 plus living expenses.
“My parents are very supportive,” she said. “They see it as a good opportunity.”
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca