NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Pearl-Cohn High School students are used to competing for state championships on the football field, but a new sport is taking over the school.
Students at the North Nashville campus are the first in Metro Nashville Public Schools turning their love for video games into big wins on the national stage.
Raylin Carter and around 30 other students play in the school’s new e-sports arena every week. It opened this year, and the team has already won games in major competitions.
School leaders said the e-sports team has increased attendance and boosted grades for students who want to turn something they love into a career.
“Video games, they can teach you a lot more about anything,” Carter said. “Only because you play a video game all day doesn’t mean you can’t do nothing with your life. We have streamers out here making billions upon billions just to stream in front of a camera. That’s all you got to do. You got to follow your dream.”

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Beyond just picking up a controller, students are learning how to code, graphic design and even create business plans.
Starting next year, Pearl-Cohn will have an e-sports class on top of the competitive gaming club hoping to create even more opportunities for students.
“It is a jumping point for college scholarships, entrepreneurship, community building and seeing what is out in the world and space,” executive principal Dr. Miriam Harrington said. “We’re taking what they love and ensuring they have a future. Thinking futuristically for students of today.”
Harrington said the success at Pearl-Cohn is making other schools start looking at creating e-sports programs.
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