New Robots Bring Learning to Life

Students learn 21st Century skills, thanks to you!

When you supported a Classroom Grant, you helped put innovative learning tools–like this Dash Robot–directly into the hands of local students.

On November 2nd, ​​the excitement in the air at the Sassarini Elementary School was palpable. A class of 5th grade students rushed to open the boxes of their new learning tools: small Dash Robots, which students could code to move, spin, talk, and more!
The new Dash Robots were made possible thanks to donors like you, who helped fund a Classroom Grant for Sassarini teacher Danielle Wroblewski. 

When you make a Classroom Grant possible for a local teacher, you are ensuring that they can provide their students with the materials, resources, and experiences that their students need to thrive. As Ms. Wroblewski can attest, your support makes all the difference for local students.

Ms. Wroblewski runs the Maker Space, a designated space for students to explore STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) throughout the year. All students at Sassarini, from TK through 5th grade, have the opportunity to visit the Maker Lab once a week to engage in exciting, creative, hands-on classes.

While the Maker Space was already equipped with many resources, the new Dash Robots filled an important gap. Ms. Wroblewski commented, “There are very few opportunities for my students to learn to code. Learning to use block code to give Dash directions and complete tasks provides a tangible and exciting use of code.”

Students control the robots through an app on an external tablet. Using the app, they learn the basics of coding and use their new skills to bring the robots to life!

For their final project with the Dash Robots, Ms. Wroblewski will have the students program their robots to participate in a dance challenge. Her long-term goal is to build a Coding Unit for all students to learn and explore the wonders of computer science and programming year after year.