I am thrilled to announce the launch of a new program offering, Exploring STEAM, for our students ages 6-10. Our FIRST LEGO League Explore Program Delivery Partner, Joyce Walters, will be spearheading a virtual 9-week STEAM course that allows students the opportunity to explore the fundamentals of engineering while learning to design, code, and create unique solutions. 

As parents and teachers have searched for content for students that no longer have in-person afterschool opportunities, need STEM-oriented activities, or would benefit from peer-to-peer engagement, we hope this program fulfills all of those goals. 

We are launching Exploring STEAM as a pilot program and look forward to building and expanding upon what we discover in this first 9-weeks. Please share this opportunity with your friends, family, and community. Registration is now open through December 11, 2020 and class starts in January. To learn more, visit www.renaissancejax.org/exploring-steam.

I also want to highlight the progress of our usual programs. Our FIRST Tech Challenge Northeast Florida League just wrapped their first Scrimmage, which was done remotely. Teams are building robots, learning to navigate and score this year's game, and submitting their scores via a remote scoring platform. On Monday, November 16 at 7:00 p.m., you can view a wrap of the Florida FIRST Tech Challenge Scrimmage at FIRST in Florida's YouTube channel. Some of our teams have submitted videos to be shown!

Our FIRST LEGO League teams now have an initial schedule of events, starting in late January of next year. We are beginning to post training events and volunteer opportunities. There is a high need for virtual judges, referees, and reviewers. Please contact me at krystal@rjax.org and/or subscribe to our Volunteer Newsletter to stay in the loop!

Sending virtual high fives to all of you -

Krystal Martz