Alexia Deligianni-Brydges, Board President; Gunn Marie Hansen, Superintendent
The iInspire Drone Invitational is an innovative way to inspire underserved students to engage in coding. Students learn to code drones utilizing the SWIFT Playground coding language. SWIFT Playground is the precursor to learning X-Code, the language utilized for app development. Students develop their coding, teamwork and communication skills, then compete in a track meet-like finale for “air superiority” against teams from across Southern California. Students compete in three events. The coding integration challenge involves students coding their drone “on the fly” through three-dimensional mazes. The integration challenge involves students presenting research they conducted throughout the year on how drones solve real-world problems. The finale involves teams free flying drones around a track for time. The top teams win a perpetual award to display with pride until the next year. More importantly, all students take away college and career skills needed to be successful in life.