Continuing its annual tradition, the Town of Cutler Bay held the Back to School Splash and Robotics Exhibition on Saturday, July 27, 2019, at Cutler Ridge Park. Drawing in over 400 attendees, the event was a fun family affair that included various features for participants to enjoy such as: free swim at the Cutler Ridge Pool, a water slide, a foam zone, a video game bus, a wacky slime station, a face painting station, music by DJ Ivan, free food and a backpack giveaway.
The event also featured a Robotics Exhibition, which was the culminating point for the Town’s six-week Careers in STEM Summer Camp—a camp funded by The Children’s Trust for 45 youths entering grades 6-8. With the aid of Miami-Dade College instructors, campers were taught how to build and program a LEGO Mindstorm NXT Robot and earn an Introduction to Robotics Certification from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Academy, as well as participate in physical fitness activities, attend weekly fieldtrips and more.
The Robotics Exhibition provided the campers an opportunity to flaunt their impressive creations to their peers, parents, the Town’s Education Advisory Committee and Council Members in attendance: Mayor Tim Meerbott and Council Members BJ Duncan, Michael Callahan and Roger Coriat. Following the exhibition, the Mayor and Council Members greeted and congratulated the campers while presenting them their certificates of achievement.
“I want to thank The Children’s Trust for funding this extraordinary program through the $135,700 yearly grant that was awarded to the Town last year—which is also renewable up to five years for a total of $678,500,” expressed Mayor Tim Meerbott. “I am also incredibly proud of the Town staff who worked so hard on designing and coordinating such an innovative program that provides our young residents an opportunity to experience cutting-edge education, cultivating our future engineers and technological leaders.”
Once the exhibition and award ceremony concluded, the campers, along with their parents, joined in on all the fun activities the Back to School Splash had to offer. A big thanks goes to the Town’s sponsors for the success of the event: Cricket Wireless, Amscot Financial and The Children’s Trust.