A new board game designed to expand the minds of children was launched on June 28 by Queen Anne resident Stacy George (pictured left). Called "Around the World: The Ultimate Global Board Game," it introduces concepts around diversity issues.
George's inspiration for inventing the game was her own childhood. In preschool, she dreaded the moment when her teacher asked the class, "What did you have for breakfast?" Stacy usually had café con leche and shunkleesh (transliterated), a Middle Eastern, cheese-like ball that is crumbled, drizzled with olive oil and eaten on bread. "It tastes so good that my siblings and I used to fight over it," says George. But her preschool classmates thought it was weird - most of them had Cheerios or Kix for breakfast.
You can't tell by her name, but Stacy George's heritage is Middle Eastern. Her father emigrated from Lebanon, and her mother, of Syrian descent, from Argentina. Her father's surname was Labaad until he arrived in the United States, where her parents were introduced and married.
George, 30, was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where many immigrants have settled because of the manufacturing jobs there. Her father owned a heating and air-conditioning business. She grew up speaking English, Arabic (the informal dialect) and Spanish. She has since become fluent in French as well.
She attended the University of Oregon, where she majored in international relations and minored in French. After graduation she followed her own course of independent study in the Middle East, then lived and worked in Washington, D.C., on a race-relations initiative during the Clinton administration.
"But I lost interest in politics," George says. "I wanted to influence kids and families in a more direct way."
On the urging of a sister who lives on Magnolia, she moved to Seattle about four years ago, settling on Queen Anne. She works for United Way as a school readiness program manager.
Through work she has learned a lot about the Seattle public school system. About one in four students speaks a native language other than English, such as Amharic, Lao, Spanish and Tagalog, to name just a few. "With Seattle's growing melting pot, will our students grasp the heritage of their classmates?" she wondered. "Will today's students be prepared to participate in an increasingly borderless society tomorrow?"
Questions like these led her to develop the game. Why a board game and not some other sort of game, perhaps a computer game? "Because it allows you to sit down with your family or class," says George. "It facilitates face-to-face discussion." It makes her message concrete.
She continued her world travels, doing hands-on research, and drew the engaging graphics herself (they were faithfully reproduced on a computer by a graphic designer). Working closely with both public and private schools, she tested the game for a-year-and-a-half before it was launched. The game specifically touches on countries that are represented in Seattle public schools.
The object of the game is to travel around the world by answering questions correctly and gaining tokens to fill up a Global Scorecard. Players roll the dice and "travel" according to the number on the dice, navigating their travels through the spaces they land on. Players must correctly answer four questions in each category to win. First player to "travel around the world" and fill his or her Global Scorecard wins.
"Travels" include riding the Channel Tunnel to Paris, visiting the temples of Nepal and diving among sea turtles in Australia. "The game is competitive," says George, "but in a philanthropic way. Players earn tokens by helping the world." There are tokens for helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina in some specific way, for example, or for tutoring English to an immigrant child. "To get from the world," says George, "you must give back to it."
Trademarked and copyrighted, for now the game is for sale online only, so that the price - $26.99 - can stay low. Profits will go to diversity projects and multicultural events in schools.
The game is designed for players 8 years old and up - "actually, anyone who can read," says George. "It's challenging for adults, too," she adds. "It's surprising how little many adults know about other cultures."
Aided by a network of international agencies, George is already preparing to further develop "Around the World." She will produce additional packets of questions that will be available separately.
"This game is not only fun," says George, "it's a necessity, it bridges a gap. As our economy becomes more global, we need multicultural knowledge. The earlier we get it, the better."
Growing up "different," George says she always felt like the learner. With "Around the World," she has leveled the playfield, and all children can be learners like she was.
For more information, log onto www.aroundtheworldgames.com. Check out the website's interactive forum.[[In-content Ad]]
