Amazon’s $25K donation launches 3 new robotics clubs in South Dakota

Amazon has donated $25,000 to the Black Hills Robotics Foundation to establish three new robotics clubs in South Dakota. The funding will also support existing clubs with equipment and travel expenses, expanding robotics education opportunities for middle school students in the region.

What you should know: The donation will directly fund three new robotics clubs while providing additional support for existing programs in the Black Hills area.

• The Black Hills Robotics Foundation will determine which three proposed clubs receive funding to launch their programs.
• Additional money will go toward purchasing new equipment and covering travel fees for existing robotics clubs in the region.

Key details: Senator John Thune and Amazon team members visited Douglas Middle School on Friday to celebrate the donation and observe student demonstrations.

• Students showcased their coding abilities and robotic programming skills to the visiting officials.
• The demonstration highlighted how 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students are learning advanced programming concepts through hands-on robotics activities.

What they’re saying: Amazon’s community engagement manager emphasized the impressive technical skills displayed by young students.

• “I think for folks who are not as familiar with robotics, to be able to see what these students are doing at 6th, 7th and 8th grade, that they’re able to be coding these robotics to determine colors, to determine certain actions that the robotics should be making based on their commands … it’s truly inspiring,” said Dean Allsopp, community engagement manager at Amazon.

Why this matters: The donation addresses a critical funding gap that has prevented proposed robotics clubs from launching, potentially expanding STEM education access for hundreds of additional students in the Black Hills region.