Robotics Seeds for Rural Dreams

Robotics Seeds for Rural Dreams

By Dylan Lu

On 2/11/19, the Pennsylvania Rural Robotics Initiative was awarded a $361,600 grant as a part of Governor Tom Wolf’s PASmart Initiative. The PA Rural Robotics Initiative, formed last summer, is composed of Franklin, Oil City, Cranberry, Brookville, Clarion Limestone, Dubois, Forest, North Clarion, Valley Grove, VTC, Keystone, and Redbank school districts as well as the IU6 in Clarion. 

$299,000 in grant money is being used to purchase a mobile RAD (Robotics and Drones) Lab, which will be used to teach 3rd to 12th grade students depending on the school. 

The funds will be divided between each district in the initiative and teach robotics basics to students who otherwise wouldn’t learn about these concepts. 

The rest of the grant will be to further the training of these districts’ STEM teachers and help create two new dual enrollment courses at Clarion University: Intro to Python and Intro to Robotics.

The future of robotics is bright and will offer students unique opportunities that will plant seeds and encourage students to dream.