It's an early summer morning and students are walking into a classroom filled with tech and Best Buy employees welcoming them to take their seats. They are about to start the first day of Geek Squad Academy (GSA) to learn and immerse themselves in some of today's latest and coolest tech.
Unlike other summer camps, students attending GSA will walk out as Geek Squad Junior Agents, having learned everything from video game coding and photography to film and music production and so much more. Their tech journey doesn't end when the two-day camp wraps up. The Junior Agents are sent home with a flash drive that holds all their creations to share with friends and family.
"We never know what that spark will be for the Junior Agents that drives them to love tech and to love creating new content," says Double Agent Greg, Geek Squad employee and program lead for Best Buy's Geek Squad Academy camp.
At the heart of the program are our Best Buy employees, who lead these classes across the country. They bring technology to life for each of the students, giving them an opportunity to discover their interests and learn how tech can benefit them in school and their future careers. Greg's own GSA journey began as an instructor in 2009, when he experienced the impact of the program firsthand.
"Our staff is so engaged and they want to make an incredible event for our students, that's why Geek Squad Academy has been so loved over the years," Greg said. "It's because of the energy our staff brings for our students."
In the classroom, Geek Squad Agents get to witness special "Aha!" moments throughout the day, when students realize they're coding their own video game or composing a song. It's those moments that truly make these camps a unique and lasting experience for everyone involved.
"Those moments continue throughout the day, throughout the week, and throughout their lives — learning tech and learning to explore it in new ways," Greg said.
Access, exploration and inspiration
GSA started over 17 years ago, and since then has taken place in over 100 cities and military bases through partnership with nonprofits, community organizations and schools in the U.S. and Canada. Starting in a high school classroom to teach teens how to build and repair computers, GSA has continued to evolve with the changing technology landscape.
"Going back year after year after year to some of these organizations, they say that the kids are so engaged after we have a camp," Greg said. "And the youth want to do more and learn more after we go."
This year, Greg helped support 32 camps from California to Virginia to Puerto Rico. In fact, he's logged about 150,000 miles throughout his GSA career. And he's not done yet.
"I just did a camp last week in Pasadena. We did our closing ceremonies, and we got all our students up and screaming," Greg said. "And right after we dismissed them, literally a line of students ran up to us to give us hugs. Those types of things are remarkable when the students are celebrating our staff like rock stars."
Read more about Best Buy's Geek Squad Academy, and how we're building brighter futures through technology.
