Transforming Learning
Yorktown CSD Awarded Grant to Purchase Robotics Kits

Kindergarten and first-grade students in the Yorktown Central School District will be able to make their own robots thanks to a recently awarded grant.

The nearly $2,000 in funding will cover the cost of five screen-free robotics kits called KIBO. Produced by KinderLab Robotics, the kits introduce coding and sequencing to young children as they use wooden programming blocks with barcodes to build, code, and decorate their own robots.

The District already has 15 KIBO kits. The additional five kits will allow Brookside and Mohansic elementary schools to each have a set of 10.

The grant, awarded by the New York State Association for Computers and Technologies in Education (NYSCATE), was applied for by YCSD tech specialist Alyssa Arroyo.

“With a record number of grant submissions this year, the strength of your submission was quite clear to the evaluators,” wrote Dr. Amy DelCorvo, the organization’s executive director.

In her grant submission, Arroyo said the project “will support our district in expanding our integration of New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency standards” in Brookside and Mohansic. The robotics kits, she continued, will “provide an equitable experience for students to explore computer science, robotics, computational thinking, design thinking, the Four C’s, and so much more.” The Four C’s of 21st-century learning are critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication.

“At the Yorktown Central School District, we are focused on transforming learning through the integration of ESTEAM,” Arroyo wrote, noting the district’s nationally recognized empathy-based approach to STEAM education. “This means that our programs are developed in order to support our students in becoming global citizens who use empathy to create concrete solutions to real-world problems with an interdisciplinary lens.”

KIBO kits come with a robot, wheels, motors, programmable blocks, sensors, and more. They also include instructional materials.

“These five kits will provide a critical low-tech option that enables students to interact with both hardware and software without the use of a screen and permits teachers to utilize these tools and concepts to connect to classroom learning goals,” Arroyo said.

Arroyo has been invited to attend NYSCATE’s Awards Banquet in November in Rochester. At the banquet, Arroyo will be awarded a plaque bearing her name and grant title.

“Congratulations to Yorktown CSD for fostering innovation and creativity and enhancing education through the appropriate use of technology,” DelCorvo wrote.

NYSCATE is a non-profit organization that represents technology-using educators and administrators in New York State. The Yorktown Central School District was just one of 10 grant recipients this year.

See: Grant letter from NYSCATE

About Yorktown Central School District

The Yorktown Central School District is a public school district with an enrollment of approximately 3,400 students. It deeply values educating the whole child through its academic, character education, pupil personnel, and extra-curricular programs. The academic program is aligned to the New York State Learning Standards with attention to 21st-century skills. The district’s instructional program coupled with an outstanding character education program come together to form the concept of ESTEAM, an approach that places empathy at the forefront of creativity and innovation. Yorktown’s ESTEAM has become a nationally recognized, award-winning approach to teaching and learning. The district has been recognized as a National District of Character, and has been recognized on numerous occasions at the state and national levels for its fine academic program. The Yorktown Central School District is consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top school districts in the nation. The district’s ESTEAM initiative has also been recognized as a Promising Practice by Character.org. Yorktown High School, a National Blue Ribbon School, has also been acknowledged by Newsweek as one of the top STEM high schools in the country.

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