The Woodland Hills School District is excited to announce that it is the recipient of Moonshot Grant from Remake Learning. The $35,000 grant will be used for the district’s Unifying Communities Through Unified Robotics project, in which it will develop and lead a regional Unified Robotics league in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Unified Robotics programs pair special education students with regular education students as they work together to score points in a game format and playing field designed by VEX Robotics. The Unified Robotics competition empowers the students to further develop their skills as communicators, engineers, and critical thinkers, all in a competitive and collaborative environment.
The idea of a Unified Robotics league was conceptualized by Andrew Fee of Special Olympics Pennsylvania and Jason McKenna of VEX Robotics and brought to the district. Woodland Hills School District Assistant to the Superintendent for Curriculum Dr. Eddie Willson worked closely with Kellee Oliver and Emily Sanders from the Beaver Area School District to lay out the operations and logistics of the league and apply for the grant.
“As a district, we view robotics as a great equalizer in the world of education,” Dr. Willson said. “All scholars can find success in robotics, mostly because it’s something that very few scholars have previous experience with. Scholars who have historically underperformed or underachieved have the opportunity to start fresh and compete with their peers who might traditionally accelerate and achieve at a high level and have the same success as them.”
The grant will enable the district to help fund start-up costs for Unified Robotics programs for league participants, including providing stipends for coaches, reimbursement for materials, and pay for transportation to competitions.
“It’s really important to us that all scholars, regardless of ability, can see success in the world of robotics,” Dr. Willson said. “We think that this Unified Robotics league and this grant through Remake Learning is going to solidify and formalize this idea that everyone is welcome. We want scholars from all backgrounds, neurotypical and neurodivergent, to be part of our robotics team and to find success.”
The first event for the Unified Robotics League will be held at Woodland Hills High School on December 13. It will include middle school students from Woodland Hills’ Dickson Preparatory STEAM Academy along with students from South Fayette Middle School, Hopewell Area High School, Blackhawk High School, Beaver Area High School and New Horizon School, Western Beaver High School, West Allegheny High School, Mars Area Elementary School, and three schools from the Elizabeth Forward School District - William Penn Elementary School, Mt. Vernon Elementary School, and Central Elementary School.