b'theriskofsounding overlysentimental, KELLER WILLIAMS MID-TOWN DIRECT he says, I will say that PROUDLY WELCOMESEyesight meetings were Nekita Martins, Team Leader kindofamagicalex-perience. Imagine this: We all go to my sort of dirty basement. We sat Withpersonal,long-termaround this long table. real estate success and herWe all have snacks and NJRealEstateInstructor weallhaveourcom-License,wereexcitedtoputersout.UsuallyI see Nekita rapidly grow thewould do a preliminary businesses of our new andpresentation like Okay experiencedagentsaswellguys, this is our time-as our teams. line,thisisourbud-get. And then wed all While mostly a basement startup, the students did enjoystartworkingonour some nice weather on the porch. Clockwise from left:computers,laughing Sappington works on their business timeline; Olivia Morgan Reach Out and Experiencedrafts the major plot points for one of the storylines intogether,thatkindof Fallen Worlds Traveller; Will Kliment works on artwork for the KW MTDR Difference Conundrum; Thomas Culhane codes for Conundrum. thing. It was a brilliant Teamleader@kellerwilliamsmtdr.comsocial experience.973.309.4942 and they all have to synergize to workUltimately,devel-together.Thatwasreallythegoalofopingavideogametogethermade the weekly meetings. them all better prepared to handle re-973.762.5400Culhane emphasizes the challengesmotelearningandtheisolationthat 181 Maplewood Ave.of creating a video game while man- often accompanied it. Eyesight lead-kwmtdr.com aging school demands, extracurricularing up to COVID really gave us self-Each office is independently owned and operated. Octavio Mendes, Broker of Record.activities, and the many social engage- management and sort of self-directed mentsthatcamewithbeingahighskills so that when COVID hit, it was schooler, calling the weekly meetings aa really good training program for us good solution to the tricky balanc- to be able to set our own schedule for ing act. It forced you to get thingsschoolwork and robotics and Eyesight, NEW ! done for that meeting, he says. And itSappington says. It gave us those skills FOR FALL helped that the meetings were, unlikeof organizing our time.most work meetings, fun. Under the crunch of college appli-It didnt feel like an office, Garciacations and virtual learning, the team adds. It felt like hanging out with acontinuedtodevelopConundrum, group of people that I see as friends,and this past April, as the college ac-and that I get to make something re- ceptance envelopes were being ripped ally cool with them. Plus Sappingtonsopen, their video game was released to mom provided snacks. thepublic.Sappingtondescribesthe It was at these weekly meetings thatgame as a combination of tower de-theEyesight Technologiesteamwentfenseandstrategygamingthatrelies fromhighschoolkidsdreamingbig,on a lot of problem solving, coupled to a company implementing its goals,with fast-paced action and reflexes to step by step, week after week, for threesurvive and escape. years.TheworkinitiallyfocusedonThe team has been thrilled that so amuchbelovedvideogameprojectmanypeopleareplayingit,notjust called FWT, which was ultimately notlocally in SOMAa community that released. Yet all that hard work becamecontributedsignificantlytoafund-invaluableastheymovedawayfromraiser Eyesight previously held for the producingFWTandontothevideogamebut far and wide on social me-Meet \x1bou\x18 fa\x15\x14r\x12\x11e b\x0fank\x0ct ! game Conundrum. I will say that thatdia,whereitsreceivingoverwhelm-projectwalkedsothatConundrumingly positive feedback. New recycled cotton throws just arrived! could run, Sappington says. Amidstthefinalweeksofschool, Whenthepandemichitduringwhile most of the team readied them-Machine washableMade in the USA Sappingtons junior year, the meetingsselvesforprom,graduationceremo-170 MAPLEWOOD AVENUE|973.313.2722|WWW.MAKER-MUSE.COM moved to Zoom, but the bonds theynies, and life outside of Maplewood, formed in person remained strong. AtEyesightTechnologieshelditsfinal 16/ matters magazine / school 2021'