Money will aid schools in Mon, Preston and Marion
The robots are coming to Walmart.
No, check that: The robots are leaving Walmart.
The retail giant announced last week it was ending its relationship with a tech startup that had supplied robotic units to more than 600 of its stores for the purpose of stocking shelves and checking inventory.
As it turns out, human machines can do the job just as well — and even better.
But that doesn’t mean such labor-saving measures that are still the staple of science-fiction writers are going away anytime soon.
From a renewed focus on distance learning, telecommuting and the effort to bring broadband to even the most rural areas, technology will likely be a lasting product of the pandemic.
Even the kind that employs robotics.
And, the tech-gurus of the future could be products of schools in north-central West Virginia.
Schools in Monongalia, Preston and Marion counties are among the recipients of grants recently awarded by Chevron, the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the EQT Foundation and Equitrans Midstream Foundation.
Chevron and the EQT and Equitrans Midstream foundations are associated with the energy industry.
The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation is a philanthropic concern offering outreach in causes from health and human services to education and community development.
Together, the entities provided more than $130,000 in grants to schools across West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio to enhance STEAM — the science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics programs that now come standard in every curriculum.
Benedum Foundation Vice President Jim Denova said the idea is to inspire educators, so they can inspire the students who might be tomorrow’s tech leaders.
“Mini-grants like these are incredibly valuable in tapping the creativity of frontline educators,” Denova said.
Such projects and such ideas, he said, are too often “overlooked by large-scale, top-down projects.”
University High School received a $5,000 grant that will fund its “Robot Rampage II” program.
North Elementary School will use its $5,000 grant to support its robotics integration curriculum and the $2,440 netted by South Middle will help bankroll its virtual robotics design program.
Aurora School and Rowlesburg School will share $5,000 for their continued exploration and implementation of virtual reality programs.
All seven middle schools in Marion County will share $5,000 for operation of the district’s STEAM Learning Lab.
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