High School HeroesX awarded a grand prize of 1400 dollars to the winners of our inaugural challenge– narrowing the education gap in Philadelphia.  The winning team, from Penn Charter, used the money to expand their 21st century technology curriculum by purchasing LittleBits Stream PD. They have also expanded their work to another school in Philadelphia– the Saint James school. Saint James is a middle school for students from areas which are comprised mainly of people of color and low socioeconomic class. Below is an excerpt from one of their team members about their first day at Saint James.

“At the front door ,we were greeted and then directed down to where we would be working with the kids. There were only four students, three of whom were in a detention beforehand, but were released so that they could work with the LittleBits. Since the students had no prior knowledge of the LittleBits, we started small, guiding them through building a robotic car based on the instructions that came with the LittleBits. While they struggled at first, with some choosing to tinker with the individual pieces instead of attempt to build the final project, their overall perseverance was admirable. One student managed to finish building the car completely, and was exuberant when he was able to drive the car around the floor wirelessly.”

We look forward to seeing how Penn Charter continue to expand their 21st century technology lessons into other under funded schools in Philadelphia– a true testament to the impact of this type of incentivized competition!