STARBASE Victory is proud to announce a partnership with The Boys and Girls Club in Portsmouth at the organization’s new facility. The after-school, two-hour program began this month in two sessions of four days each. The first session was provided for 8-12 year old youth with an activity to build individual SPHERO robotic chariots which they coded and then raced to the finish line in the maze. The second session used the same STEM project but was geared for twelve year old and older youth. Partnering with Women in Defense Greater Hampton Roads Chapter (WIDGHR), Arizone Hollins Brown, President & Chief Executive Officer, ASJ IT Services, was our first volunteer who attended and shared with the youth about her career including maintaining airplanes in the Air Force and how she used STEM in her company. They asked great questions, and when they seemed a little stumped on what software means, Bill Hayden was on hand to help. There were three “graduates” of the STARBASE 6th grade program, so Bill shared that when they coded the drones in AEROBASE they were using software.

We will continue holding sessions for the Boys and Girls Club so stay tuned. We also hope to expand the program to other locations.

Interested in getting involved? We will be offering volunteer opportunities during the fourth graduation day as we are doing with WIDGHR. We need roughly $2500 to run the program for a full year, which includes the instructors’ compensation and the kits the kids use. We will recognize you and your employees in our media and website. A donation of $300 will make quite a difference in how we can continue to expand the program. So, let’s get nine people to cover those expenses!