Full Steam Ahead For Future-Forward Educators

Twelve STEM Teachers Each Awarded $900 of Robots in Inaugural Grant Program

Twelve elementary STEM teachers across the US have each been awarded $900 worth of Marty the Robots from EdTech company Robotical, in partnership with one-stop STEM shop Eduporium, after their applications were selected by Eduporium’s Grant Committee and judges at Robotical’s inaugural grant program.

Twenty-four of the multi-award-winning educational robots were donated by Robotical to twelve schools for whom specialist instructional STEM tools were out of reach financially. The chosen winners showed a clear vision and innovative approach to using Marty in the classroom to develop coding literacy and computational thinking and map out opportunities for cross-curricular integration.

Students from Bel Sanchez Elementary with their Marty the Robot

Hal Speed, Head of North America for Robotical and a co-author of the K-12 CS Curriculum Framework, said: “Each of the grant recipients understood the benefits that a physical coding tool would have in bringing STEM subjects to life for their students and they demonstrated real consideration and creativity in how they would use Marty to make that happen.”

Setting her students on an interstellar mission with their two Martys was a challenge that one of the grant-winning teachers Adriana Sanchez, K–5 STEM teacher at Bel Sanchez Elementary in Rohsaron, Alvin ISD Texas, felt they were ready to take on.

“My idea was to get them to navigate through the Mars Colony,” she said, “avoiding obstacles and reaching designated targets and performing tasks along the way.

“In doing this, they would be able to develop proficiency in basic programming concepts and problem-solving skills while working together in a real model built by them. I am so happy to have won this grant and certain that having Marty in the classroom will make them even more motivated to learn how to code and to persevere to achieve their goals.”

Rick Fredkin, CEO and co-founder of Eduporium, added: “Teaming up with Robotical for our monthly grant program was awesome, because it means we’re helping even more deserving schools get their hands on the tools they need to spark creativity and curiosity in STEM. We’re all about leveling the playing field in education, especially when it comes to tech, and Adriana’s idea like the others is exactly the kind of future-forward project we like to see.”

The twelve grant recipients, who have each received two robots, are:

• Jeremia Jenson, solutions analyst at Hillsborough County BOCC Head Start in Tampa FL
• Feliciah Heiler, Director of Technology at St. John Notre Dame School in Folsom CA
• Sarah Simon, Computer Teacher at Fremont Unified School District in Fremont CA
• Jacquelyn McGuire-Day, Library Media Specialist at Rosemount Forest Elementary in Virginia Beach VA
• Dillon Solomon, Dean of Students at St. John Lutheran School in Wrightstown WI
• Saroda Chattopadhyay, Computer Specialist at E.M. Grimmer Elementary in Fremont CA
• Melanie Arrington, Media Specialist at Elm Street Elementary in Rome GA
• Adriana Sanchez, STEM Teacher at Bel Nafegar Sanchez Elementary in Rosharon TX
• Heidi Barber, Educational Technology Specialist at Wayne County Public Schools in Goldsboro NC
• Markia Miller, Teacher at Columbus City Schools in Columbus OH
• Pamela O’Loughlin, Programs Manager at Ohio Alliance for Arts Education in Columbus OH
• Stephanie Kern, Learning Experiences Co-Ordinator at Engage Learning in Jenks OK