SPARK STEM gains STEAM: Grant will foster robotics learning | Local News

A new funding grant will be used to ignite learning at SPARK Academy at Cowart Elementary. The school recently was awarded a $2,500 grant from the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International Pathfinder Chapter. Proceeds from the grant will be used to purchase six LEGO STEAM Park sets and three DASH robots for the SPARK STEM Lab.

Kindergarten through third-grade students visit the SPARK STEM Lab each week to participate in fun, hands-on science, engineering and robotics project-based units of learning. Students utilize collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills as they explore, play, and learn about topics such as forces of motion, sources of energy as well as programming and coding.

“We are grateful to the AUVSI Pathfinder Chapter for supporting robotics and STEM learning in Athens for over a decade. We appreciate their commitment to providing us with the funds to do incredible projects with our students,” said Kennedy, SPARK STEM Lab Specialist.

AUVSI, Pathfinder Chapter was formed in 1989 and serves the greater Tennessee Valley region in northern Alabama. AUVSI provides a forum for professional development and networking within the regions’ unmanned community as well as grants to the local school systems for robotics and STEM education