Foundation Awards $7,600 in Robotics Grants
October 15, 2019: The Lexington One Educational Foundation awarded Robotics Grants totaling $7,600 to Beechwood Middle and Gilbert High Schools at the Lexington County School District One Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, October 15, 2019.
Foundation Executive Director Julie Washburn presented the awards. “In an effort to provide seed money to all of our schools, the board accepted grant proposals and then allocated $18,000 to establish new robotics teams at nine locations during the 2018-19 school year,” she stated, “These grants will extend our support to new robotics teams in the district in 2019-20.”
Foundation grant funds can be used to purchase robotics kits, tools and team registrations. “Coding and technology-related fields are the future and participation on school robotics teams teaches our students many of these valued skill sets. The money from the Educational Foundation helps to get these new school teams started” Washburn noted. “Each year, new robots must be designed to meet specific competition challenges,” she explained. “This expense plus the cost of registering teams and traveling to competitive events adds up quickly.”
Robotics team members learn about the engineering design process, computational thinking, range of motion, simple machinery, collaboration, teamwork and public speaking—which are valuable skills to future employers. They must design, construct and program a robot; learn to maneuver it using a remote control; conduct product trials; and correct performance issues. Competing gives students a chance to see how other teams addressed the challenge, meet students from other communities, and learn from their experiences.
Congratulations to the 2019-20 Foundation Robotics Grant award winners:
- Beechwood Middle School Robotics Team – Teacher Sponsor Lois A. Byars
- Gilbert High School Robotics Team – Teacher Sponsor Dana M. Sox
