Maria Ellis, a mathematics and robotics teacher at Eureka Springs Middle School, has been awarded a classroom grant by the Arkansas State Teachers Association (ASTA).

The $500 classroom grant will be applied toward the purchase of three Sphero BOLT coding robots for her students. “These robots will be implemented to teach coding through recreating the game of hot potato,” Ellis wrote in her submission. “Students will define and use variables, conditionals, loops, and randomness within bounds to bring the classic game to life.”

“STEM instruction through robotics provides hands-on applications in the classroom today, and valuable skills building for tomorrow’s careers,” said Allison Greenwood, ASTA’s interim executive director. “ASTA is committed to supporting educators’ efforts to meet those goals and ensure he best possible educational environment for all learners.”

The Arkansas State Teachers Association Teacher Scholarship and Classroom Grant Program is open to all full-time educators in Arkansas. Applications are considered twice-a-year on a competitive basis and valuated by a volunteer review committee of educators.

ASTA is a chapter of The Association of American Educators and serves educators in Arkansas. The ASTA Grant and Scholarship program is supported by The Association of American Educators Foundation (AAEF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that provides teachers and leaders with opportunities, information, and funds to reform and improve the education of America’s youth.

AAEF was established to support the activities and mission of the Association of American Educators (AAE) – the largest national, nonunion, professional educator organization, advancing the profession by offering a modern approach to educator empowerment and advocacy — promoting professionalism, collaboration, and excellence without a partisan agenda.