Donors fund Sphero robotics packs for district schools; Meta Blazers team demonstrates robots at meeting

The board recognized Steve and Jane Jones for donating Sphero Bolt robotics accessory packs to a set of district schools and held a brief student demonstration during the presentations portion of the meeting.

Carrie Wall, the district’s senior digital innovation administrator, said the Sphero devices "offer our students hands on opportunities to explore coding, engineering, and design" and publicly thanked donors "on behalf of the district, our educators, and most importantly, our students." The presentation named six schools receiving equipment: Osceola Elementary (principal Jennifer Norris), Beachland Elementary (assistant principal Jessica Keaton), Citrus Elementary (principal Tasha Jones), Rosewood Elementary (principal Adam Faust), Treasure Coast Elementary (principal Jeremy Keane) and Sebastian River Middle School (top fundraiser for the donation effort).

Students from the district’s robotics league — introduced as the Meta Blazers and the Techie Pirates by presenters — rolled robots across the meeting room floor for a brief demonstration and spelled out "thank you" with the devices for the donors, who attended the meeting. The presentation said each school will receive a Sphero accessory pack that includes a terrain park and two chariots.

Also recognized during presentations were GYAC (Gifford Youth Achievement Center) recipients of a district casual-for-a-cause fundraiser; the district announced a $2,340.65 donation and named Sebastian River Middle School as a top fundraiser (Sebastian River Middle School raised $386). The board acknowledged the donor presentation and students; no action items were associated with the donation.

What’s next: district staff will distribute the Sphero accessory packs to the named schools and incorporate robotics into STEAM instruction as appropriate.