Florida A&M University Developmental Research School Home

By: Alison PoseyPosted at 12:24 AM, Oct 26, 2021 and last updated 12:24 AM, Oct 26, 2021 TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — For the first time in seven years, we're not going to see the Turral twins on a Big Bend basketball court this season. Four of those seasons were spent in a FAMU DRS Baby Lady Rattler uniform, a team that's coming off their eleventh straight trip to the state final four. Monday was day one of practice for high school girls basketball teams across the state of Florida, FAMU DRS included. Along with losing the Turral twins, they're losing three others who signed college scholarships. For this program though, it's about reloading. The goal is the same, and that's something everyone here knows. "We're just building from last year's team. We had a great team last year, but now it's a new season," said head coach Ericka Cromartie. "We have to make adjustments and get better. We've made it there consistently and came up short. This time, I'm like okay, what else is it that needs to be done? Let's bring it back. It's different. Their attitude is different, they're tuned in, they're encouraging one another. It's more of a camaraderie this year." The first regular season game for DRS is November 18th when they face Leon. Copyright 2021 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - Florida A&M University reported on Wednesday that the school has joined a partnership with the Chevron Corporation and the Fab Foundation to create a digital fabrication lab at FAMU Development Research School (DRS) for the Tallahassee community. According to their press release, fab labs are designed to foster student innovation, learning and invention: a place to play, to create, to learn, to mentor and to invent. Fab labs, with their suite of digital fabrication tools and prototyping machines — including laser cutters, 3-D printers, vinyl cutters and milling machines — are inspiring young people across the United States, to learn about science, technology, engineering, and math. “Chevron is proud to expand our partnerships with the Fab Foundation and FAMU,” said Melissa Rosenblatt, Chevron social investment manager. “This partnership supports our overall $15 million racial equity initiative, and we believe that education is a critical pathway to achieving social equity and enabling human progress. The fab lab will also directly respond to the community’s desire to expose young people to the latest STEM tools and technology, sparking their curiosity and informing their future education and career pathways. Advancing social equity aligns with our core values and building a strong pipeline of diverse talent in in STEM isn’t a luxury, it is imperative to our business.” FAMU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Maurice Edington, Ph.D., said the Chevron initiative is an investment in student success for generations to come. “The fab lab allows students to study, design, interpret and implement their own creations. It’s a space that fosters critical thinking skills,” Edington said. “These students are our future engineers, scientists, designers, architects, artists and teachers.” The Fab Foundation is a U.S. non-profit organization that emerged from the Massachusetts Institution of Technology’s Center for Bits & Atoms. Its mission is to provide access to the tools, the knowledge, and the financial means to educate, innovate and invent using technology and digital fabrication to allow anyone to make (almost) anything, and thereby creating opportunities to improve lives and livelihoods around the world. Since, 2014, the Fab Foundation has partnered with Chevron and launched fab labs across the U.S to support STEM education, said Sonya Pryor-Jones, Fab Foundation vice president, chief strategy officer. “We are excited to continue this partnership and support Chevron’s HBCU Social Equity project. This new project will expand our work together with the intention to provide access to advanced technologies and create more equity in STEM,” Pryor Jones said. “We hope to complement the rich history and commitment of HBCUs to serve the educational needs of Black Americans and together accelerate opportunities for African American students in STEM and digital fabrication.” The partnership between FAMU and Chevron dates back 11 years, says the press release. The Fab Lab announcement comes as FAMU DRS is experiencing record enrollment for the first time in more than a decade and there’s a waiting list of students trying to get in. “This is truly groundbreaking for our students at the College of Education and FAMU DRS. We are committed to our partnership in this holistic K-20 approach,” said FAMU DRS Superintendent Micheal Johnson. “This will level the field in STEM for all students and provide real application opportunities.” College of Education Dean Allyson Watson, Ph.D., said the partnership will provide the impetus for a life-changing impact in the Tallahassee community. “We are ecstatic to work collaboratively with Chevron to bring innovative solutions for children in our region and across the state. Our goal to promote STEM discovery, and ultimately STEM careers, is at the forefront of this project,” said Watson. “We see the Chevron FabLab Network as a unique opportunity to increase awareness, experiential learning and develop necessary skills that lead to overall achievement and STEM integration.” Chevron-supported fab labs include facilities in: Bakersfield, Richmond and Santa Clara, California; New Orleans, Louisiana; Pascagoula, Mississippi; Houston and Odessa/Midland, Texas; and Washington, D.C. These labs have served more than 50,000 people so far. By Thomas Brown Published: Oct. 13, 2021 at 8:10 PM EDT | Copyright 2021 WCTV. All rights reserved.

Last week, Florida A&M University (FAMU) and Florida State University (FSU) welcomed NASA Administrator Bill Nelson to the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee—the K-12 outreach facility for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering.   Nelson joined FAMU President Larry Robinson, Ph.D., and FSU President Richard McCullough, Ph.D., for a tour and spoke with engineering students about their research, encouraged FAMU Developmental Research School's (DRS) students to learn about space, discussed his time as an astronaut, and shared NASA’s goals for the future.   FAMU and FSU, along with the University of Central Florida, the Air Force Research Laboratory, and four NASA centers, are partners on a FAMU-led project to recruit more underrepresented minorities to pursue careers in aerospace engineering and give them hands-on training and experience. The project is funded by a $1.2 million grant from NASA.   “NASA is a 21st-century agency with 22nd-century goals,” Nelson said. “To be successful, it’s critical that NASA engages a diverse group of voices and partners because diversity ensures multiple viewpoints, new ways of thinking, and solutions to problems once thought unsolvable. NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project—and our partnership with the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering—is just one, critical way the agency is working to open doors for students across the country.”   In 1986, Nelson traveled to space as a payload specialist aboard the space shuttle Columbia. During his visit to Tallahassee, he recounted some of the challenges of spaceflight, and he provided insight on NASA’s Artemis mission, which will return astronauts to the moon and explore more of the lunar surface.   “Bill Nelson is a wonderful advocate for NASA’s mission, and he spoke about the space workforce of the future looking much more like America than in the past,” said J. Murray Gibson, Ph.D., dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. “The uniqueness of our college is that we...are especially suited to deliver a more diverse, highly trained workforce. Our unique combination of research and diversity is the key thing.”