What is the Minecraft Student Ambassador Program?

7 minutes

The Minecraft Student Ambassador (MSA) program is the flagship Minecraft student leadership and training program endorsed by the Minecraft Education team. It's designed for K-12 students who have a passion for Minecraft and a willingness to support, train, and mentor fellow students and teachers at their school or district using Minecraft Education. Through this program, MSAs (Minecraft Student Ambassadors) provide Minecraft assistance in the form of demos, training, leading small groups, one-on-one sessions, or additional support as needed.

The Minecraft Student Ambassador program is a win-win for students and educators alike because it provides students with an opportunity to grow and develop leadership and 21st-century skills by doing something they already enjoy doing. The program also provides educators who may be uncomfortable or intimidated with using Minecraft Education in the classroom with an added layer of onsite Minecraft support.

Illustration of the overview of the Minecraft Student Ambassador Program listed in this unit.

Purpose

The purpose of the Minecraft Student Ambassador program is to provide leadership and skill development opportunities for students as they train, support, and mentor fellow students and educators with using Minecraft Education. Students gain invaluable communication skills, presentation skills, as well as coaching and training skills as they provide support for classmates and educators. Additionally, educators become more comfortable using Minecraft Education in the classroom when they have a Minecraft Student Ambassador available to provide support if needed. As you establish your Minecraft Student Ambassador program, how will you answer this question: What do you want to accomplish because of your Minecraft Student Ambassador program?

What is a Minecraft Student Ambassador?

A Minecraft Student Ambassador (MSA) is a student leader with a passion for Minecraft and a willingness to support, train, and mentor other students and teachers at their school or in their school district using Minecraft Education.

Illustration of the Minecraft Student Ambassador badge.

A Minecraft Student Ambassador sponsor is an educator who is willing and ready to support a Minecraft Student Ambassador program in their school or district. The MSA sponsor may work alone or collaboratively with other educators and students to make the MSA program a success. The sponsor acts as an advisor and is responsible for guiding, advising, and helping the MSAs fulfill their duties and helping the program fulfill its goal of supporting educators and students with Minecraft Education.

Some of the responsibilities of the sponsor include:

Communicate with MSAs
Communicate with school/district/community partners
Provide guidance related to MSA events.
Support the MSAs in their communication and leadership skills
Support program logistics.
Support the MSAs at in-person and virtual events
Build relationships with MSAs
Have fun!

Illustration of the Sponsor responsibilities that repeats the responsibilities listed in this unit.

Benefits of the Minecraft Student Ambassador Program

Teachers

Provides the sponsor an opportunity to become part of a global educator community where they can collaborate with peers, learn, and grow while earning badges for participating in scheduled events and activities, and receive swag. Minecraft Student Ambassador sponsors get access to resources and opportunities to pilot new Minecraft features as well as get access to the Minecraft Education Team via scheduled events for sponsors such as live webinars and boot camps.

Students

Students become part of a global community of student ambassadors who have a passion and love for Minecraft. They have the opportunity to collaborate with other ambassadors, learn, and grow while participating in scheduled events and activities specifically for student ambassadors such as live boot camps. The Minecraft Student Ambassadors also receive swag and the prestige of being an official Minecraft Student Ambassador. Minecraft Student Ambassadors also get access to resources and opportunities to pilot new Minecraft features and get access to the Minecraft Education Team via scheduled events for student ambassadors.

Graphic of a flyer with Minecraft characters and the benefits mentioned in the text of this unit.

The story behind the Minecraft Student Ambassador program

Join us on this journey as we share how the Minecraft Student Ambassador program was started in Atlanta Public Schools during the spring of 2018. This program was created to address a professional learning need to support teachers who were hesitant to use Minecraft Education in the classroom. Despite multiple Minecraft EE training opportunities for teachers, the usage of Minecraft EE in the classroom didn't increase. The Digital Learning Specialists of Atlanta Public Schools decided to provide a special summer Minecraft EE training. As we started to plan the training, we realized that we already had a district full of Minecraft experts: our students!

That is when the Minecraft Student Ambassador Program was created. It was started to get teachers in our school district comfortable with using Minecraft EE in the classroom. This program turned into an opportunity for students to foster their love of Minecraft with like-minded peers while also developing their leadership and 21st Century skills.

Graphic of How the Minecraft Student Ambassador Program started with text repeating the reason presented in the text of this unit.