BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. — The countdown to the first day of school is winding down quickly, so it’s time for Broward County students to get their supplies together and get ready to learn about some new subjects.
On Friday, an event is being held at North Fork Elementary School in Fort Lauderdale, helping families do just that.
Hundreds of backpacks are being given out for free, filled with supplies, and the mission is to give kids equal opportunity at a quality education.
That also ties in with Broward County Public Schools’ new STEAM focus, trying to give students of all ages opportunities to work with new technology in the hopes it advances their schooling and maybe even career.
It’s a clear mission for the new Silver Shores STEAM Academy, which went from an elementary school to a K-8 school, and is now equipped with new technology.
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“I love how you can express yourself when building new things, and (you can) build anything,” student Emaan Farhatullah said.
“It’s a blessing (and) it’s nice seeing everyone together,” said Benjamin Moore, a father who attended the event. ”I love the community. It’s such a wonderful thing."
The school is expanding their coding and robotics work to the middle school level with the help of new laptops for every student, 3D printers and interactive white boards.
“New for this school year is the expansion of artificial intelligence,” Loli Formoso, Career Technical Adult & Community Education Director for BCPS, said.
District leaders like Formoso want to see this across Broward County.
“It’s really about exposing our students with as many opportunities as possible and then allowing them to make the decision that’s best for them,” Formoso said.
Principal Jonathan Leff also wants it to grow the Silver Shores family and make it stand out amongst the other under-enrolled schools.
“Once my middle school is fully built out over the next three years, we’re looking at roughly 240 sixth, seventh and eighth graders in total,” he said.
“When you talk about things that they love and that they’re passionate about and we can offer courses that will help them fulfill their dream, who wouldn’t do that?” Leff added.
The acronym STEAM is unique at Silver Shores.
Typically, it means “science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.”
But there, the “a” stands for “aviation.”
The principal says they’re going to get flight simulators next year and try to get pilots to come in and speak with kids about the job, mechanics and travel, and maybe inspire future careers.
As for Friday’s giveaways, in addition to the one at North Fork, another one will be held down the road at Sunshine Elementary in Miramar at 9 a.m., and from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Endeavour Primary Learning Center in Lauderhill.
The first day of school in Broward County is Monday.
Local 10 News viewers can also click here for more information on back-to-school giveaways across South Florida and here to read more stories from our Mom to Mom collection.
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