Thanks to a generous donation of $35,000 from the Xerox Foundation and IEEE Lexington, elementary school students in Fayette County will now be able to build their own robots.
Both companies are happy to incorporate robotics in the math and science education of students. Corporate vice president and chief operating officer for Commercial Services, Connie Harvey, says the mission of the Xerox is to create avenues for science, technology, math and engineering, as these are topics that are very important to the innovating company.
And the IEEE Foundation loves to bring the excitement of scientific discovery to students.
Twenty elementary schools in Fayette are using robots in the district’s Student Technology Leadership Program. All 34 elementary schools will also be equipped with three small electric robots, as well as Lego Mindstorm kits that will be used by students who will learn how to assemble their own robots, in addition to programming their creations to perform numerous tasks.
District officials hope these robots will get their students more interested in math and science, as well as engineering and technology, from building and playing with their machines.
They also expect the new learning tools will aid kids in the development of skills they can expand upon as they go on to junior high and high school.
Fourth-grade teacher Mary Maldonado, who teaches at Garden Springs Elementary School – where the donation was announced today – already uses robotics in her classroom setting; “We’re so excited to get robots in the hands of our students. The addition of robots means less time waiting and sharing and more time doing the tasks with math and science,” she stated.
Principal Jimmy Brehm at Garden Springs believes the interest in robots at their school is shared both by boys and girls, and “When we're able to take something like robots, put them in the hands of a kid who would otherwise never have that opportunity, and say you can do this ... that's where our excitement is.”
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Edited by
Braden Becker
