DriveOhio Educator Toolkit Updates: Drones, Afterschool, Summer, and More
Welcome back from Winter Break! DriveOhio has added new content to the DriveOhio Educator Toolkit to support educators in the classroom, afterschool, and over the summer.
Updates include: a new resource page for Drones & Air Mobility, a new collection of resources for Afterschool & Summer programs, recordings of 6 episodes of the Toolkit Tuesday professional development webinar series, and links to more partner resources.
With over 800 educators and community partners who have downloaded the toolkit and attended our webinars and workshops over the past year, we’re excited to continue adding to this free collection of resources to support STEM education and career exploration focused on new and emerging transportation technologies.
Click the link below to view the DriveOhio Educator Toolkit – and check out the information below for more details, including a new equipment funding opportunity and registration links for upcoming webinars in 2025.
*If you've previously registered for the Toolkit, you can use your existing link.
Drones and Air Mobility
 Drones! From students to educators to employers, everyone is talking about the latest air mobility technologies and innovations. We’ve put together a collection of resources to support K-12 drone education and career exploration, with content including curriculum, presentation slides, videos, and industry-recognized credentials. We’ve also included partner resources like the FAA Airport Design Challenge, NASA STEM lessons, and more!
Afterschool and Summer Programs
 The DriveOhio Educator Toolkit is not just designed for classrooms — our curriculum is being used across Ohio in afterschool, library, and summer programs too. We’ve developed condensed versions of our curriculum, in collaboration with afterschool partners like Cuyahoga County Public Library. We’ve also highlighted partner content, including STEM resources from the Ohio Afterschool Network, LEGO® Education activities, and free Portable Innovation Labs from the PAST Foundation.
NEW Equipment Funding Opportunity
 DriveOhio is implementing a workforce development training initiative through funding provided by the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program to support in-classroom training opportunities related to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
Public and private higher education, career technical, and K-12 institutions may have the opportunity to purchase an EV fast-charger to use for in-classroom training and hands-on experience. Projects funded under this initiative may support the future of electrification-focused workforce growth in the state of Ohio. A minimum of 20% cost-sharing from non-federal sources is required, and equipment may not be installed for use by the public for vehicle charging.
To get involved, interested institutions should use the link below to complete the interest survey no later than Friday February 7, 2025.
 DriveOhio hosts a free "Toolkit Tuesday" webinar series to support K-12 educator professional development, focused on implementation of the DriveOhio Educator Toolkit.
Follow the links below to register for our upcoming webinars in 2025 and visit our YouTube playlist to watch recordings of previous episodes.
January: Startups Taking Flight
What’s it like to work at a startup company at the cutting edge of electric aviation? Join us for a conversation with representatives from BETA Technologies and ParaWave to learn about entrepreneurship, career pathways, and the latest innovations with electric air vehicles and drones happening in Ohio!
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February: Hands-On Learning with UC
During this episode, we’ll chat with Ryan Mahle and Sai Bonthu from the University of Cincinnati (UC) about free hands-on K-12 STEM curriculum their teams developed with funding from DriveOhio. Examples include traffic light simulation, test track construction, coding with Raspberry Pi, summer camp programs, and more!
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Hear From Our Team
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Ohio Educational Technology Conference 2025
DriveOhio's Rich Granger will present a session titled DriveOhio Educator Toolkit: Career Connections from Pre-K to PhD on Wednesday, February 12 at 8 a.m.
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Ohio Afterschool Network (OAN) Annual Conference
DriveOhio's Rich Granger will present a session titled Flying into the Future with the DriveOhio Educator Toolkit.
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Podcast: Learning Unboxed Ep. 256
DriveOhio's Rich Granger talks about Portable Innovation Labs with the PAST Foundation in this episode of the Learning Unboxed podcast with Annalies Corbin.
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