Tech giant Google announced a new grant to introduce middle schoolers to robotics programs and A.I. education at Adelante II Dual Language Academy on Monday.
It’s part of a greater grant program through the tech giant’s philanthropy, Google.org, which is awarding $10 million in grants to expand access to the latest technology at select middle schools across the country.
Google leadership said the program is an important step in preparing kids for the jobs of tomorrow.
"So, we believe that robotics will help our youth in their future careers by giving them a number of tools and resources on how to problem solve, how to communicate and how to work in teams,” said Javier Gonzalez, Google’s head of local government affairs and public policy.
A total of $450,000 of the grant money is going to California middle schools to fund robotics clubs and programs.
Most of that money is earmarked for schools that traditionally lack access to high-tech programs, which often means reaching out to students of color and non-native English speakers.
"This is an opportunity to enrich the spirits of our students here in our school, providing them opportunities that many of them may not have gotten outside of school," said Jose Cortez, Adelante II Dual Language Academy principal. “It’s an opportunity for them to discover some talent that may not know that they had.”
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