Philadelphia Robotics Coalition pledges to keep supporting teachers post-funding loss

Leaders today widely agree on the importance of STEM education, yet related programs are still losing important funding streams. 

Earlier this year, the contract between the nonprofit Philadelphia Robotics Coalition (PRC) and the School District of Philadelphia ended, which meant the loss of key financial support for educator-led robotics programming across the city. 

As PRC takes a step back to do some strategic planning on what’s next for the org, it still wants to continue the work of getting kids interested in science, technology, engineering and math, executive director Dia L. Jones said on Technical.ly Speaking, a monthly segment on WURD Radio’s “Reality Check” hosted by Tonya Pendleton.

“Our goal for us is to have our students get these STEM experiences,” Jones said. “Maybe they don’t go into robotics, but maybe they go into other STEM careers around the city.”

Under its previous 3-year contract, PRC used money from sponsors and partners — ranging from the Department of Defense to pharma giant GSK — to purchase materials and provide training for robotics teams. 

Then, the Philadelphia School District reimbursed PRC with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, which went into effect in 2021 to help communities recover from the pandemic. 

Despite the lack of money, PRC is still finding ways to offer support to the educators who lead these programs in their schools. Jones said that the org will still provide training for any teachers or other robotics coaches that are interested.

While one goal of that will be to promote technical skills that students get from these programs, it’s also an outlet for personal growth. 

“When you’re working with the robotics team, you have people pushing you to do better,” Jones said. “There’s nothing stopping you from what you’re doing.”