SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV)—For the past five weeks, over a hundred Syracuse City School District's middle and high school students got to trade their notebooks for gaming controllers by participating the the Esports Camp at Elite Gaming, which combines technology and teamwork.

During the sessions, students were able to rotate through hands-on STEM and game-based products in different modules. Activities like coding robots and designing their own version of the city's park in Minecraft, where they're balancing budgets and code standards.

"We're acknowledging their passions, and once you acknowledge their passion and you're on their level, the lines of communication open up," said Rob O'Connor, co-founder of Elite Gaming.

Eighty percent of the students participating in the program are not a

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