Dallas, TX – FEBRUARY 25, 2019 – The first-ever student robotics tournament in the Southeast region with robotics teams comprised of all Deaf and Hard of Hearing students, hosted by The Robotics Education & Competition Foundation in partnership with the NTID Regional STEM Center (NRSC), will be held March 2 at the North Carolina School for the Deaf.
The event will offer a series of robotic game challenges, testing students’ prowess for engineering by competing with their custom-built robots, while building their career and life skills such as communications, creative problem solving, critical thinking and collaboration.
This tournament is being funded by a grant awarded by the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation. The RECF Diversity and Inclusion Southeast District Grant aims to inspire students to pursue education and careers in STEM. This grant provides nine schools for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in the Southeast Region with materials and support for teachers, and matching funds for VEX Robotics Competition kits.
“We need to engage every student, especially those in underserved populations, in the pursuit of STEM education and careers so that we can prepare them for the challenges and demands of the future workforce,” said Dan Mantz, CEO and chairman of the board, RECF, based in Texas. “Partnerships like this are widening access to STEM so students of all abilities can explore their potential for career success in activities such as robotic engineering competitions and online challenges in web design and CAD engineering.”
Earlier this year, The RECF awarded grant monies to NRSC, a partnership between The Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf and the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind. The partnership develops programs for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students so they can compete for STEM jobs after graduation from college. The partnership services Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in nine states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The Southeast schools that received RECF Diversity and Inclusion Grants are:
School officials said that, with the exception of North Carolina School for the Deaf, none of the schools had robotics teams prior to receiving the RECF grant.
“We’ve received a lot of enthusiasm and support for this tournament,” said Harry Wood, STEM Outreach Trainer – Technology/Robotics/DeafKidsCode, NTID Regional STEM Center in Talladega, AL. “We are committed to expanding access to robotics education to students of various abilities by helping more schools set up new VEX teams for next year’s Tournament.” For more information, please email wood.harry@aidb.org.
RECF offers students a progression of opportunities beginning in elementary school through college and in the workforce, leading to rewarding careers in STEM fields. RECF is supported by major corporations including the Northrup Grumman Foundation, Google, Texas Instruments and Dell.
About the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation Foundation
RECF’s mission is to increase student interest and involvement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by engaging students in hands-on, affordable, and sustainable robotics engineering programs.
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