$2K Grant Helps Support Maui Prep iPueo Robotics Program

The grant will support Maui Prep’s iPueo Robotics program by providing the training and equipment needed to sustain a multilevel robotics program. Photo Courtesy

Maui Preparatory Academy was awarded a $2,000 grant from the Maui Economic Development Board’s Ke Alahele Fund and Friends of Hawai‘i Robotics to help engage students in curricular and co-curricular STEM content through the effective use of VEX Robotics.

The program, known as iPueo Robotics, currently reaches over 40 students every year from grades 3 through 12. The program utilizes the VEX robotics educational platform to teach STEM-related topics and disciplines (engineering, structural design, electronics, programming), through hands-on and project-based activities integrated with 21st-century skills (problem-solving, strategy, collaboration, teamwork, and communication).

The purpose of iPueo Robotics is to increase interest in STEM disciplines through various opportunities that begin at the elementary level and move through middle school, high school, and potentially into college and the STEM workforce.

Maui Prep’s iPueo Robotics program lays the groundwork for students who will be more comfortable adopting the inquiry stance, creative problem solving, and data-driven collaborative decision-making models which are so crucial as foundations for STEM careers.