Generous Gift Greatly Expands Opportunities for Science Students
Executives from Exelon Generation joined students and educators inside an Everett High classroom on Thursday morning to celebrate a generous gift that enhances and expands student access to cutting-edge technology.
The donation comes in the form of eight robotics kits, totaling $12,800. The purchase greatly improves the ratio of kits-to-students and will facilitate better student learning and experience in robotics and engineering classes.
“These robotics kits will allow our students to go from groups of five to groups of two for their projects,” said math and engineering teacher Anna Seiders. “This will have a profound impact on their learning experiences. We cannot thank Exelon Generation enough for their continued support.”
Her students agree wholeheartedly.
“Working in groups of five is really difficult because not every student gets to build or code,” said student Melisa Demaku. “We spend a lot of time watching each other. Even though we each get a chance, it’s still not enough time. These kits will help the current students and future students have more experience and be more engaged in class.”
“We at Exelon Generation are thrilled to donate these robot kits to Everett High School’s STEM Academy to help spark students’ curiosity and interest in engineering through hands-on problem solving,” said Archie Gleason, General Manager, Exelon Generation, Northeast Region. “Everett’s high-achieving STEM programs are opening doors to future employment opportunities in technical fields for their students.”
Gleason spent a lot of time with students on Thursday morning, discussing their coursework and the STEM-related educational and professional opportunities that await them. The students learned about the vast operations of Exelon Generation, America’s leading provider of clean energy and the operator of the Everett LNG Facility, the longest- operating LNG import facility of its kind in the United States.
The VEX EDR kits are of the highest quality, containing thousands of parts, and offering vast opportunities for students to learn and explore. The system harnesses the excitement of building robots to immerse learners in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts, both in the classroom and through extracurricular pursuits such as Everett’s nationally-recognized Ten80 STEM Racing team, “The Crimson Bolt.”
Members of the Crimson Bolt compete in the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge, which requires students to design, build, maintain, and operate remote-control vehicles.
“Last year, we switched to the VEX EDR robotics kits for our National Rover Challenge competition because it had more replaceable parts and we had been using it in our engineering class,” said EHS student Isaac Lenescat, adding that the kits helped lead the team to a slew of top finishes at the national competition on the campus of Texas A&M. “With more kits,” Lenescat concluded, “more students will have hands on experience, and we will be able to grow our club.”