Millwood school gets five tablets for robotics club
Students from Millwood Elementary School who recently visited the University of Oklahoma were treated to a holiday surprise.
The students were on campus for the Gallogly College of Engineering’s Computer Science Education Week, a national awareness campaign designed to introduce underrepresented and minority students to the power of coding, make coding more accessible and help break stereotypes surrounding the discipline, according to a news release.
While at OU, the students learned to code computer language and interacted with robots. But the OU School of Computer Science saved the best treat for the end of the visit —five new tablets to use in the robotics club.
Working in one of Oklahoma City’s highestpoverty school districts, librarian Laura Grotheer knows that access to technology education gives her students opportunities to be better prepared for life beyond the classroom. That’s why she posted her fundraiser for new technology equipment on DonorsChoose. org, a nonprofit that allows people to donate directly to schoolclassroom projects.
When Grotheer’s friend and OU School of Computer Science academic programs coordinator Virginie Perez-Woods discovered the fundraiser, she knew OU could help. Millwood students were invited to participate, and plans to surprise them with the tablets were put into motion.
“For many of my students, internet access at school is their only exposure to technology,” Grotheer said. “Today’s world runs on technology, and I want to make sure my students have the best opportunity to thrive and be successful.”
‘A blessing’
When Grotheer and teachers Helen Bennet, Axel Nda and Patricia Reed attended OU’s Computer Science Education Week with 70 students, they hoped the event would be one of those opportunities. They were surprised and grateful when the experience included new tablets for their classrooms.
“This gift will be such a blessing to our students and our school,” Bennett said. “OU’s School of Computer Science has expanded our horizons of how we can teach and how our kids learn.”
Sridhar Radhakrishnan, director of the School of Computer Science, said he hopes the gift is one of many opportunities for the school to introduce younger children, especially underrepresented and minority students, to the power of technology.
“We are on the precipice of an exciting future in terms of technology and how humans fit into it,” Radhakrishnan said. “OU can play a large part in helping shape that future by providing the tools they need to be successful.”
Grotheer’s Donors Choose.org post is accepting donations to purchase Kindles. To donate and help fulfill the much-needed request, visit the website, search for Millwood Early Learning Academy and find Ms. G’s page.