By Krysten Brenlla
It’s looking bright for the future workforce in Miami – and it’s all thanks to a local foundation and virtual robotics curriculum for making it happen.
This week, the Udonis Haslem Foundation, founded by three-time NBA champion Udonis Haslem, has partnered with Riders.ai, a virtual robotics coding and curriculum competition platform, to award scholarships to 250 students in 10 local Miami high schools to expand robotics, coding, and STEM skills.
“At the Udonis Haslem Foundation, we have three pillars – giving hope, access, and opportunities to at-risk communities that, in many cases, may be thought of last,” said Sylvester King Jr., chairman of the board of the Udonis Haslem Foundation. “When we first met with Riders.ai, it fit right into what we were looking to do – find schools focused on STEM and technology in at-risk communities to scale opportunities and positively impact as many kids as possible.”
While using the Riders.ai platform, students learn how to build and program simulated 3D robots using Python, block-based, and build-your-own codes. At the same time, through the virtual curriculum, students learn how to develop algorithms that expose them to artificial intelligence skills, such as image recognition and object detection. Through the curriculum, students will have 60+ hours of video tutorials to build and code their robots, with the opportunity to compete against students across the United States and the world.
Max Ringelheim, the U.S. director of operations for Riders.ai, says that before collaborating with the Udonis Haslem Foundation, the 10 schools with the Riders.ai license only had a handful of students using the software.
Now, with the scholarships made available by the foundation, over 30 students in each school can get their hands on the virtual curriculum.
“With the help of the Udonis Haslem Foundation, we are able to add 25 additional licenses to each of these 10 schools – now we’re talking over 30 students at each school getting a chance to program a robot virtually,” Ringelheim said. “Because of the Udonis Haslem Foundation, we can give so many students the ability to not only learn robotics, but have fun doing it.”
Additionally, as part of this collaboration, Miami EdTech, a registered 501c(3) education technology non-profit organization, is working hand-in-hand to provide both teacher and student office hour support to ensure that students have the skills they need while building, and teachers have the skills they need to help them. Last year, Refresh Miami reported on Riders.ai and Miami EdTech’s commitment to our South Florida community, announcing their partnership with Venture Miami to elevate STEM education in Miami’s public schools.
And, to add to the fun, before the end of the school year, Riders.ai is hosting a virtual competition for all scholarship recipients to compete against students from across the country. This past December, the handful of students from the designated schools competed in Riders.ai’s world-cup competition, with Hialeah Gardens Senior High School students earning second place.
Ringelheim and King say they’re excited to see more students competing this year – and it’s thanks to the scholarship opportunities that allow for scale and impact.
“We hope that through these scholarships, there’s a wildfire effect on how this spreads for kids in school who want to learn how to code but don’t know where to start,” King Jr. said. “Udonis himself grew up in Liberty City, and had never even been to South Beach before he got to the NBA. We want to bring another reality that expands our kids’ minds and their potential futures.”
Some of the local high schools participating in the Riders.ai virtual platform include Hialeah Gardens Senior High School, Coral Park Senior High School, Southwest Senior High School, Jose Marti MAST Academy, and others. Students interested in applying for the scholarship to participate in the Riders.ai platform should reach out to their teachers for more information. Additionally, Riders.ai and Miami EdTech encourage teachers, administrators, and MDCPS schools interested in joining the program to reach out directly at max@riders.ai and support@miamiedtech.com.
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