About

Scholastic Drone Racing Tech Partnership with OSU Extension and Circleville City Schools District, integrates drone technology and accelerate STEM learning and technology career pathways. We’re hoping to bring additional Pickaway County School Districts online as more funding and sponsorships becoming available. 

Figure 1: LEFT Circleville Drone Racing Team at 2019 Maker X racing event in Columbus, Ohio and RIGHT micro racing drone; photos by Meghan Thoreau.

We want schools in Pickaway County to continue to use drone technology and establish the lure of competitive drone racing (formalizing it as a scholastic drone racing tech sport) to expose our K-12 students to technology and hands-on problems solving opportunities to – design, create, modify, and rebuild – employing 21st Century Skills and use of technology to meet the demands of the 21st Century Workforce. Drone technology expands and applies STEM learning (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).

A drone racing team requires at least 10-12 participating students. One drone kit supports 2-3 student pilots. Team startup requires four drone kits and four spare part kits. An on-site 3D printer and printing materials are helpful for printing additional parts or making drone modifications.

There are additional community engagement and sponsorship opportunities through event sponsorship and flag banner logo sponsorship, etc. that may generate additional dollars into the drone technology program, as well as, registration program fees that could be charged to participants. We have partnered with Pickaway WORKS and Pickaway County ESC to leverage local community engagement and sponsorship opportunities. 

OSU Extension initially secured approximately $5,000 startup funds to purchase four S3 Nano RPV Drone Racing Kits, four replacement/spare part kits, one PVC obstacle parts and materials, and LulzBot Mini 3D Printer to jump-start the first drone racing season in the spring of 2019.

Objectives: Identified need/opportunity: There is a critical need in the Pickaway County Schools for Extension partnerships that bring more dynamic, hands-on, and engaging programs that focus on 21st-century skills to prepare students to be dynamic tech-driven problem solvers and close the skill gaps facing the 21st-century workforce. 

Figure 2: LEFT Circleville Drone Racing Team at 2019 Maker X racing event in Columbus, Ohio, photo by Meghan Thoreau. RIGHT image from Nix, N. (2017, August 18). The Value of Bringing Drones to the Classroom: as drone-related employment opportunities expand, a Kentucky educational cooperative is finding ways to offer students the relevant training. The Atlantic. Retrieve from: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/the-value-of-bringing-drones-to-the-classroom/537150/. Photos by MARCUS/REUTERS.

The use of drones is becoming popular in technology education. Drones make STEM learning relevant and fun, by allowing students to become creators of technology and by allowing them to collaborate, build off each other’s creative ideas, share the enthusiasm with others, and continue learning. Incorporating drone technology into Extension programming at this stage makes sense both programmatically and logistically. OSU Extension inspires youth participants to be naturally curious and excited about experimentation and encourage the use of hands-on activities. Drone technology is accelerating and K-12 and colleges are applying drone technology in their educational programming. Pickaway County Schools greatly benefit from being early adapted to drone technology and 3D printing capabilities and reap the STEM learning benefits these technologies employ. 

Drones offer an astonishing new aerial perspective with countless applications that cut across disciplines, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), as well as agriculture, emergency management, film, media, military, and journalism. Drone technology is rapidly becoming an incredibly versatile tech-tool for the 21st- century workforce and supports OSU Extension’s Community Development/STEM Programming that aims at providing youth with a skillset for the 21st-century workforce.

Figure 3: Image from the University of Delaware. Professional Drone Pilot Training Academy. Professional & Continuing Studies University of Delaware. Retrieve from: http://www.pcs.udel.edu/drones/.