Team Effort

The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium has been awarded $100,000 through the generosity of the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation to help increase STEM education for Palm Beach County students, galvanizing the community around a common goal to expand local FIRST robotics programs.

This award is an addition to a recent $50,000 STEM Equity Community Innovation Grant received by the Palm Beach County School District from FIRST, the world’s leading youth-serving nonprofit advancing STEM.  

Working collaboratively, the school district, the Science Center and Green Mouse Academy have begun to implement a FIRST LEGO League program expansion for students from pre-K through grade four, which will provide robotics equipment labs, curriculum, certified training and job-embedded coaching for teachers and afterschool practitioners at elementary schools. More than 700 students will discover hands-on STEM robotics through project-based learning as they research and explore a real-world challenge.

“At the Science Center, we want to open every mind to science, and we are grateful to our partner organizations for making this happen, and we are proud to be a host for this incredible program,” says Kate Arrizza, CEO of the Science Center.

FIRST continues to grow in Palm Beach County, engaging more than 3,000 students annually through age-appropriate afterschool learning opportunities and local FIRST competition teams. Leadership and support from the local community is a key reason Palm Beach County was selected to receive this highly competitive FIRST grant, joining eight other winning communities from more than 270 applicants nationwide. O 

For more information, call 561-832-1988 or visit sfsciencecenter.org.

Photo courtesy Green Mouse Academy