For PPG’s James Romano, global director of business excellence, Aerospace, it’s important for students to interact with STEM professionals. In his experience, helping students to relate to professionals in potential fields of interest can spark curiosity in STEM paths.
PPG volunteers join X-Bots to inspire STEM learning, help children
“We were all once high school students, with a majority of us probably unsure about what we wanted our futures to look like, or unaware of what was even possible,” said Romano.
This desire to help students understand the possibilities held in STEM fields inspired him to join together with X-Bots Robotics, the PPG Foundation and Boys & Girls Club (BGC) of Whittier and Pico Rivera, California to provide 50 youth participants with an opportunity for hands-on STEM learning that brought independence, smiles, and mobility for toddlers.
The X-Bots Robotics Mobility Program presented by PPG pairs PPG employee volunteers, like Romano, and X-Bots team members with middle school and high school students from a Robotics team and Boys & Girls Club youth participants, who all together build specially designed electric cars for toddlers with mobility challenges.
At the start of the program, Romano and 10 of his colleagues participated in a panel discussion, sharing their career pathways. Then, they served as mentors throughout the workshop.
“The PPG employee panel members are all STEM-educated and shared many different stories about our backgrounds and careers. Then, we took questions from the students,” said Romano. “Once we began modifying the electric cars, our PPG volunteers were there to assist with the assembly, but mostly to interact with students and promote STEM education and careers.”
Romano continued, “The middle and high school students have directly and immediately witnessed the result of their volunteer work, which should reinforce the importance of giving back. At the same time, we’ve encouraged many to continue their STEM journey. And, for the families of the children that received a car, they now have a way for their children to do something that wasn’t possible before this day.”
From giving the opening remarks to closing the day with excitement from the children (and their parents) that were able to drive their modified cars, Romano appreciated his first experience with the X-Bots Robotics Mobility Program.
“For the student volunteers, hopefully they felt a sense of satisfaction from the joy this brought to the children (and families) that received a car, and that this will encourage them to continue to volunteer and explore STEM options,” concluded Romano.
In addition to the workshop in Whittier, PPG employee volunteers in Greensboro, North Carolina also joined X-Bots to expose youth to various STEM fields and give them a taste of how a job can make an impact in their communities. With the Hot Botz FRC Robotics Team, the Greensboro Cerebral Palsy Association and the Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club of Greensboro, more than 20 students modified 10 cars.
From California to North Carolina to Florida and Pennsylvania, the PPG Foundation and X-Bots Robotics have teamed up for the past five years to expand access to this program. Throughout the partnership, PPG employee volunteers, the PPG Foundation and X-Bots Robotics have created 165 modified cars and reached 855 students. In addition to developing more than 160 youth STEM leaders through peer-to-peer instruction, the collaboration between PPG and X-Bots has reached nearly 300 patients through cars donated to therapy clinics and children's hospitals.
To learn more about the recent workshops, click here.