Mikko Reksi

Mikko Perälä, better known in the digital world as Reksi or the Princi-Pal, is the founder of School of Gaming. Since 2016 he has been turning screen time into quality time, organizing gaming related clubs, camps, tournaments, workshops and events for children and their parents. In 2018 he created Gaming Wagon, a gaming room on wheels that brought gaming events to thousands of children all over Finland, including those in remote rural areas.

Reksi believes gaming is a good hobby, just like writing, football or music, which, by the way, are all hobbies he loves himself. Gaming is at its best when a trained adult guides it in a safe community. That idea is behind every School of Gaming club and event.

Reksi also actively brings the gamer’s view to the European Commission’s Digital Education Hub (EDEH), where he works on game education questions together with other education professionals from across Europe.

His task is not an easy one. Changing what society thinks about games and gaming is hard work. Here the Princi-Pal’s tool of choice is the pen, or rather the keyboard. He writes a regular newsletter for parents, The Princi-Pal's Letter Home, and blog posts for School of Gaming's website, usually with a cup of green tea well within reach.