GREENSBORO, N.C. — Over 7 months from its topping out ceremony, Foust Gaming & Robotics Elementary has come a long way.
"To actually see classrooms starting to come together, to see lighting, to see the spaces – the flexible spaces come together... or our students, for them just to see they have a school like this that nobody else in the nation has this type of school. Like I'm so excited and just so excited to see when they walk into the school and see it for the first time," proclaimed Foust principal, Fredrick Alston.
The new Foust building is on track to open in January of 2025 just in time for the next semester, and yet the halls are already full of robotic sounds.
“I am just thrilled. not only as a teacher but as a parent that my kid gets to come to a gaming and robotics school, he is in first grade. And I think just the earlier we start them on these skills because we don't know what their future is going to look like. So, the earlier we can, you know, really get into those skills with these kids, we're going to better prepare them for a better future," said STEM teacher, Chrissy Sturgis-Edwards.
Foust will be the first public school that specializes in robotics and gaming. While it has all the trappings of Guilford’s academic curriculum, Foust Elementary offers a different way to learn.
“Education is changing, it's not the same traditional education. And so, making sure that we are really providing students opportunity to engage, not just on that critical thinking, but how they innovate and they problem solve at an early age where they are the center of the learning," said Guilford County Schools Chief Academic Officer, Jusmar Maness.
“They can go and put down design ideas, they can think about changes that they can are designing. So, just to have the space where they can make those designs, that are designed for this, like this is – this is awesome," Alston exclaimed as he toured a nearly complete classroom.
With flexible learning spaces, an Esports Arena, robotic builds, and an incorporation of artificial intelligence, the students at Foust Gaming and Robotics will be ready for the future.
“These kids are going to be getting an opportunity that many other kids in the nation don’t and it’s a really exciting place to be and a lucky place to be for a lot of our kids," said Sturgis-Edwards
“So there's a lot of great things happening behind the scenes. And so we're excited to see the fruit of the labor and everything that we've invested over these past few months and few years," said Alston.