The Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County (EDA) and the Community Foundation look forward to the grand opening of the Blue Water Area Robotics Alliance (BWARA) practice field on Oct 8th.
The EDA led efforts to gather like-minded donors in support of local robotics to purchase a $21,000 practice field. The field will be installed at space donated for the teams use by PJ Wallbank Springs.
“We see robotics as a pathway to skilled trades, and allowing more hands-on participation for students interested in any sort of a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program,” said Dan Casey, CEO of the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County.
“Skilled trades is a vital part of our focus on young adult success,” said Mike Cansfield, Chair of the Community Foundation Board. He added that these partnerships, donor gifts and regional support will help build the highly skilled workforce our county needs. This pipeline of talent will provide a strong STEM and skilled trades base for our local students to be successful.
BWARA is an alliance formed by all of St. Clair County’s high school robotics teams. The robotics alliance was born out of a belief that the teams are stronger by collaborating versus competing against one another.
Together, the alliance’s 10 high school teams work to share knowledge, skills, and resources with one another in order to be able to compete with the many talented teams across Michigan. Through the support of the following community partners, BWARA has been able to develop a practice site for their alliance members: Eastern Michigan Manufacturing Association (EMMA), the Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County, the Community Foundation of St. Clair County and Blue Meets Green.
To help support local robotics continued success, BWARA teams have put together a wish list of items that range from $200-$5,000 each. Support can be provided through the Blue Water Robotics Fund that was opened at the Community Foundation in 2018 by the EDA. If you would like more information, please reach out to Jackie Hanton at jackie@stclairfoundation.org or 810-984-4761.