Amazon donates more than $230,000 in equipment to STEM programs at Maricopa County schools on Feb. 14, 2018.
(Photo: Alexis Egeland/The Republic)
STEM programs emphasize science, technology, engineering and math. The gifts included tablets, laptops, drones, smart watches, headphones and speakers. The Maricopa County Education Service Agency, with the help of some students from Bioscience High School in Phoenix, sorted all of the donated items into categories that would pertain to various programs at different schools.
The agency will determine what items will go to which schools in the next few days.
In a warehouse surrounded by smiley Amazon boxes, Maricopa County School Superintendent Steve Watson called the event "serendipitous" and thanked Amazon for their willingness to help students. Watson said the event extended from a partnership Maricopa County had with Amazon for a program called STEM Pro Live! that broadcasts live tours of various businesses and programs for students. "We were getting ready to plan one with Amazon and while we were sitting at the table they said, 'Hey, do you know any way we can get some of these resources, these extra things we have, into the schools?' " he said. "And we said, 'Absolutely.' "
