With Amazon grant, a Baltimore school will start a FIRST Robotics team

Amazon awarded grant funding to a Baltimore school as part of a program to expand access to computer science education.

Through its Amazon Future Engineer initiative, the company is awarding a $10,000 grant to KIPP Ujima Village Academy. It’s one of 100 schools nationwide to receive funding.

The grant will enable the middle school, located northwest of Druid Hill Park at 4701 Greenspring Ave., to launch a FIRST Robotics program next school year, and expand computer science education. Through the program, the school will receive support from FIRST Robotics, including teacher professional development. Also included is a tour of an Amazon fulfillment center, where plenty of robotics are in use.

100 schools from underrepresented and underserved communities have received #AmazonFutureEngineer grants to fund @FIRSTTweet Robotics programs and more. Read more about one school’s visit to a local Amazon fulfillment center to see #robots firsthand. https://t.co/tQEBwAWPxJ

— Amazon News (@amazonnews) April 12, 2019

“Amazon is helping FIRST in our goal to make robotics teams and programs available in every school,” Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST and president of DEKA Research & Development, said in a statement.

As we’ve reported, FIRST Robotics teams take part in a six-week challenge in which they build robots that take part in a field game. Along with tech, teams are also charged with creating a business plan and branding. We took note of a team of Baltimore city high school students in their first season a couple years ago, and have caught up with other robotics teams taking part in FIRST as well as Vex at the Baltimore City Robotics Center and Hopkins Robotics Cup.

This robotics-focused effort is part of Amazon’s wider effort to expand computer science among students in underrepresented and underserved communities.