StacyPlays & Imaginormous Challenge Winner Collaborate on Underwater Minecraft World
In February, Minecraft Education joined the second annual Imaginormous Challenge in partnership with the Roald Dahl Estate. This creative writing competition invited students across the U.S. to pen short stories. We are thrilled to announce that Madeline W. from Houston, Texas, was awarded the Minecraft prize for the 2018 Imaginormous Challenge.
Madeline’s story was selected for it’s inventiveness by members of the Minecraft team and YouTube creator Stacy Hinojosa, known as StacyPlays on YouTube, where she has nearly 1.9 million followers and posts creative videos building, exploring and storytelling in Minecraft.
As the Minecraft prize, the winning story has been created as a playable Minecraft world by StacyPlays and her team of Minecraft builders, and Madeline was flown to Redmond, Washington, to visit the Minecraft studio and meet Stacy in person. In August, Madeline and her family came to Redmond for an exclusive tour and to work with Stacy and her build team on a design concept for the story world. That Minecraft world is now available for download by players around the world – including classrooms with Minecraft: Education Edition!
Explore the amazing underwater Minecraft world “Into the Great Trench”:
Download for Minecraft: Education Edition
Download for Minecraft Bedrock Edition
Download for Minecraft Java Edition
Here is Madeline’s winning short story:
Our submarine descended into the Great Trench. An hour later, alarms suddenly blasted, lights flickered, and then…silence. We were falling helplessly, as if through air. Then it happened – the submarine crashed, its side ripping open. But instead of water, cool air rushed in. Stunned, I walked out into a world of color and beauty. Instead of sky, the sea hung suspended above a massive air pocket. Colorful birds glided through the air and strange people emerged from the bushes. They gestured towards our vessel, and I heard gasps of wonder as we stepped into the phosphorescent lights.
For more information on the Imaginormous Challenge, teaching materials and discussion guides, and ways to bring this creative writing program to your school, visit www.imaginormouschallenge.com.
Minecraft: Education Edition provides educators with standards-aligned lessons and downloadable worlds to support K-12 language arts and literacy. Features like the Camera, Book & Quill and programmable Non-Player Characters (NPCs) help students compose creative multimedia stories and practice reading and writing in Minecraft. Check out this Language Arts subject kit to get started.
