Imagine math class where, when the teacher asks for volunteers, every sixth-grader raises a hand. Imagine kids excited about learning because they think they're playing a game.

Technically they are playing games at Quest to Learn (Q2L), the first school in the United States with a curriculum focused on video games and game-based learning.

Students might learn about Newtonian physics through PS3's LittleBigPlanet, or design through Gamestar Mechanic. They learn how to research, work as a team, and solve puzzles.

Game-based learning has growing support. Earlier this year, the esteemed professor (emeritus) Edward O. Wilson of Harvard University said, "Games are the future in education." Kurt Squire, of the University of Wisconsin agrees. "We're starting to see agreement that video games are the new liberal arts," he said. "This school is the first implementation."

Q2L, a collaboration of the Parsons School for Design, New Visions for Public Schools, and the Institute of Play (a non-profit organization dedicated to game-based education), is a public (non-charter) school funded by the Department of Education. The school is in New York City, with 72 sixth-graders and six teachers. A new grade will be added each year until it reaches the 12^th grade.

With a 39% drop-out rate, New York City could be the ideal proving-ground for this type of innovation. Katie Salen is Q2L's executive director of design and believes that today's youth are digital kids. "They've already transformed society," she says, "why not education?"

Students not only needed to apply, but also to be chosen by lottery to attend Q2L. "I have friends who are jealous," says 11-year-old Beauchamp Baker. Baker has been diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder and had previous difficulty in school. His mother Lesli admits that it took "a leap of faith" on her part, but that Q2L is "a great match for him. He's really enthused about learning."