Game on! - The Level Up: Winnipeg Challenge has begun

July 27, 2023

On April 10, Pembina Trails and the other Winnipeg school divisions, launched Level Up: Winnipeg. It's a build challenge in collaboration with Microsoft Canada, Minecraft Education, the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine, Lord Selkirk, Balmoral Hall, and the City of Winnipeg. This challenge will provide students an opportunity to navigate through a customized virtual representation of downtown Winnipeg as they create a better, more inviting downtown. Special NPC players include Leslie Spillett, Knowledge Keeper; Scott Gillingham, City of Winnipeg Mayor; Ace Burpee, 103.1 Virgin Radio host; the Golden Boy; Louis Riel; Kevin Chief, Principal of Chief Partnerships Manitoba; and Reanna Merasty, Intern Architect at Number Ten Architect Group.

Schools will submit their top designs to be evaluated by a divisional selection committee before being presented to the City of Winnipeg.

What is Minecraft Education?

Minecraft is an open-world game that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive environment where the only limit is your imagination. Minecraft Education differs from the regular video game version as it is aimed for use in the classroom and contains features such as classroom mode and assessment tools that enable powerful learning experiences.

Challenge Information

Students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 are invited to build a design that responds to the challenge prompt: How can we envision a connected, equitable, and sustainable downtown that moves Winnipeg forward without leaving anyone behind?

Teachers will have access to an Educator’s Guide, exemplars with connections to the curriculum, and ongoing professional learning sessions.

Getting Started

While Minecraft Education is available on Pembina Trails-owned devices, it can also be installed on personal devices. Please visit the Minecraft Education download page for support on how to do this.

Once you have access to Minecraft Education, download and open the Winnipeg world to start your challenge journey. Here, students will find in-game characters that will assist them on their journey before they start building.

Review the rubric before you start so you understand what the judges are looking for.

Submission Process

Submit your project through a video recording to Flip that is no more than 1-minute and 30-seconds in length and clearly explains the following:

The problem you are addressing
Your research into the problem
How you designed your solution
How your solutions solve the problem you selected

In June, schools will submit their top designs to be evaluated by a divisional selection committee before being presented to the City of Winnipeg. These will inform the design of real-world public spaces and projects.

Logging In

Pembina Trails students log in to Minecraft Education with the following credentials: