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Davie County Schools  received a VEX Robotics $36,930 grant from Ashley Furniture for robots that will be used at all grade levels.

Davie County Schools has begun planning, which will incorporate VEX robotics in the curriculum and in after-school programs at all elementary and middle schools. Through this grant, Davie County Schools will be outfitting each school with VEX Robots for grades K-8.

“DCS appreciates the ongoing relationship with Ashley Furniture,” said Superintendent Jeff Wallace. “The continuous support for education innovation will take another significant step now that DCS has secured a grant from Ashely Furniture to support Vex Robotics in the classrooms. These opportunities and relationships take student experiences to a new level that will promote innovative thinking and learning, and build stronger teams. Thank you, Ashley Furniture.”

John Marshall, digital teaching and learning coordinator, told school board members last month it will allow the system to tie in robotics in grades K-8 with what the high school uses.

It will allow for 12 robots in each elementary school, so students can learn basic coding and eevelop soft skills that local companies seek.

It will allow middle school students to attend competitions, and hopefully lead to Davie hosting competitions, Marshall said.

It will take a learning curve in year one, but will ramp up in the second year.

“We believe that this will benefit not only the robotics classes at the high school, it will also support our Davie County High School Skills USA teams that have a major focus on robotics,” he said.