My students need soldering irons, foam cutters, and LEDs to take my STEM robotics class to the next level and allow me to share with them fun in electronics.
"I have NEVER done anything like this ever!" This was the statement out of a student in my class this year as he discovered robotics for the first time. Do you remember the joy of something you never thought you would see? Without my program, my students would never have this experience in robotics
My students are freshman in a low income area in California.
Not only are they at a time which molds their future, but they come from homes where math and science skills are almost never given the opportunity to blossom. 75% of my school's students are on free and reduced lunch, and very few have adults with college experience. Still, in my STEM Robotics class they come alive. Students who have failed every class for years are passing math and science! There is so much untapped passion in them, and I am excited to allow Robotics and Design to be a way to access it. I have seen the long lasting effects of this course on my students, as several who had the earliest version of my class in 7th grade are now seniors who are about to embark on their journey into engineering. A passion fueled that can last a lifetime. My students NEED this class and the support to make it possible.
My Project
Through my own purchasing of 32 robots I have seen what the experience can do for my students. I was able to scrape together money over the last few years to provide these for them and give them a possibly once in a lifetime experience. The hope being that many are driven into Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics! There is not a day where I do not see a new fire brewing in a student, and I spend the majority of my free time thinking of ways to make the class even better. Through networking with professionals in the field, I have learned a great next step for them would be to learn to solder. In sharing the possibility, my students became so excited to learn a skill like this that can take them even further in life. I want them to be able to build, create, and inspire each other. I also want to incorporate design, which is why I am requesting Styrofoam cutters and colorful LEDs, as my students always ask to create new projects but we are limited to 2 colors in my kits
I am working at the same school I attended as a child.
I know the daily struggle these kids face simply in walking home, dangerous drugs literally around the corner. When I have them in my class I can influence them in ways that no one else can. I was blessed to get a taste of programming and electronics at their age. Because of this, I find myself teaching this class years later. I want to take this passion and spread it. This is why I saved to start this class, and why I will not let it fail.
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