With funding from Cause Connector, After School Discovery (ASD) will purchase three Lego Mindstorms robotic kits for the students in our 4th, 5th and 6th grade programs. These programs include academic coaching, enrichments, and life skills along with social and emotional skills. The students will work in groups of three with each kit, learning team-work and problem solving, as well as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. 

In 2022 this ASD STEM project will impact 75+ students, beginning with the ASD Summer of Discovery programming in June and July. Programming will continue in the fall through ASD Strive 4 Success program for fifth and sixth graders in the STEM and Coding classes. These sets will continue to be used in ASD programs throughout the following years.   

Our STEM instructor has recommended these kits as being durable and easy for the students to learn from and work with. The school district ASD is working with for these classes has a status of 100% economic hardship, so all students receive a breakfast and lunch at no charge, with no paperwork for income eligibility. These students do not have many opportunities to work with robotics, so this would be a fun learning experience for them, to either become interested in science and technology or to grow their curiosity that has already been started. 

After School Discovery has a long track record of successfully implementing projects that provide enrichment opportunities for students engaged in their programming.

The Robotics Coding and Exploration project will expose participating students in STEM education, but will also allow them to engage in cross-curricular learning as they engage in teamwork and problem-solving, teaching not only STEM lessons, but social-emotional and life lessons.