Educators and students are enduring situations that none of us expected. With the tribulations that continue to plague learning, we would like to share a ray of sunshine by introducing you to our friend Jasmine LeFlore, the Rocket Scientist!

A native of Flint, Michigan, Jasmine works in the world of aerospace in San Diego, California. She is an Aerospace Engineer by degree and quickly realized that engineers can—and should– become businesspeople.  This led her to seek an opportunity to bring the combined world of engineering and entrepreneurship to youth. She started the nonprofit Greater Than Tech, which is an organization dedicated to increasing the number of women technology business leaders and owners by teaching girls of color the intersectionality of engineering and business.

One of the programs highlighted in Jasmine’s organization is Girl Meets Drone. In this unique program, students are led through the engineering design process, then the business model canvas, commencing with a business pitch presentation. Problem-solving is the overarching emphasis with research and creativity are interwoven throughout. This program, of course, includes DroneBlocks!

Jasmine says she was drawn to DroneBlocks because “block code is the best entry point to learn coding and DroneBlocks does an excellent job of teaching this”. She appreciates the real-world learning that DroneBlocks provides, which supports the challenges she proposes to her students.

Jasmine is providing incredible opportunities for the students she works with and has some pro-tips and words of wisdom I know we all can appreciate…

• There is a level of troubleshooting that goes into working with drones: Embrace it!

• Considering whether to conduct your program after school, during a week-long camp, or on Saturdays? Skip the weekends. You don’t want students to feel like they must attend “Saturday School”

• Prepare!!! Just as you would with anything you plan to teach for the first time, take some time to explore DroneBlocks, tinker with the drone, and prep what you need ahead of time

Jasmine is providing experiences that include coding, business, and entrepreneurship to provide the tools for students to discover what they want to pursue and she is doing a brilliant job of this. Her joy comes from watching the “spark” when an achievement sticks and her girls become enthusiastic about their learning success. Whether they are drawn to the marketing, coding, revenue, or engineering process, Jasmine knows this experience will turn them into a future leader. We most definitely agree!