This month, we've presented our EdTech grant to Christa Rozas from Boston Public Schools! Christa is an elementary teacher at the Perry K-6 School in the South Boston neighborhood and a big advocate of introducing students to computer science early. Located not far at all from our Newton office, Christa's school is one of many within the BPS system. It's also very diverse and she's done a lot to ensure that all her students have access to STEM opportunities. Her plans, goals, and mindset certainly align with our mission and we're happy to present this month's award to Christa!
Since we're so close, we've been working with members of the Boston Public Schools for a few years now. Their commitment to STEM education and exploring new EdTech resources is easily recognizable. And, the way that their educators support all types of students is equally awesome. Awarding this month's grant to Christa is the latest example of working with committed educators from a local school system. As always, the end goal is to create equitable and accessible STEM opportunities for all students. In this case, as we mentioned, the diversity of this student body is incredibly robust and we're happy to join everyone within the district in celebrating it.
Through her experience in providing elementary students with STEM experiences, Christa has learned a lot about approaches, trends, and achieving ideal outcomes. She also knows that computer science is rapidly changing and that providing students with the chance to learn certain skills is often more important than having them focus on learning about certain technologies. In her opinion, all indications point to a future economy that's heavy on coding and engineering. As two of the most prominent pillars of STEM, she knows how important it is to build student interest in these areas. Using various EdTech tools can also help keep that interest level high throughout their years in school. Her go-to strategy for doing this typically involves introducing students to programmable robots as early as possible.
With the robotics kits she'll receive as our latest grant recipient, she also hopes to get students excited about STEM. Ultimately, she's trying to prepare them for designing, planning, and brainstorming when it comes to hands-on, collaborative learning experiences. Of course, this is a great strategy for facilitating STEM experiences and one that robotics activities can certainly enhance. Plus, students will be creating code on their own and feel that sense of satisfaction when it comes to fruition. Her plans also involve a bit of design thinking. Christa encourages students to explore, create, and tweak their projects to mimic real-world problem-solving experiences—especially when utilizing EdTech tools!
Like we said, we'll be providing Christa and her students with some new options for robotics and coding lessons. We'll be sending her a few Dash Robots to help enhance her elementary coding curriculum! The Dash is extremely versatile and allows students to jump into computer science experiments without much of a learning curve. There are a number of coding apps they can use with the Dash and it's as solid as they come for building a computer science foundation in the early grades. The Dash involves a great deal of block coding, helping students learn to understand programming concepts and different commands. From there, they'll be able to apply the skills they've learned in more challenging coding tasks going forward!
Christa has certainly impacted the students she's worked with and we're excited to help her continue in this journey. Especially in a time in which we're all focused on equity, we're happy to help facilitate some new STEM experiences for the diverse student body at the Perry School—many of whom come from economically challenged backgrounds. We congratulate Christa on being selected again and thank her for applying! We look forward to seeing how she'll create some new learning opportunities for her students and equip them with the skills to stay up to date with technological advancements! If you'd like to apply for our next grant, submit an application or forward it throughout your network. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more!