Amazon Brings Robots to the Inland Empire

Amazon donated twenty robotics learning kits to the MESA Academy program at Rialto High School this past Tuesday, April 26. As Amazon made the exciting announcement that the new fulfillment center in San Bernardino will begin using Amazon Robotics to help get orders out quicker and more efficiently. With the addition of San Bernardino, it makes a total of 15 robotics buildings across the nation. Along with that news, was the generous donation of a $10,000 value of robotics learning kits to students in the MESA (Math, Engineering, Science and Achievement) Academy program at Rialto High School. “We were excited to help them…we are always looking for opportunities to help the youth,” Amazon Spokesperson Ernie Apreza said. Especially those that are determined to pursue a career within the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) curriculum, he added. “More students will be able to get involved and have access to hands-on robotics education,” MESA Program teacher Mikal Thompson said. Next year, ninth-grade students will be able to enroll in the MESA elective, according to Thompson. According to Thompson, the overall goal of MESA is to encourage students, especially minorities, to pursue careers within the MESA curriculum. “This donation makes a huge difference,” he added. “It opens up a lot of doors to get kids’ hands on education.” The robotics kits will give students hands-on experience with building and programming these robots in order to perform various tasks.