To honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Atlanta Hawks and State Farm recently teamed up for the Innovation Expo and Technology Gifting event. Held at Bessie Branham Park and Recreation Center in the Kirkwood community, students got an opportunity to participate in various demonstration stations including a 3D printing station, drone station, STEM kit station and a video editing and mirrorless camera station.
The event was apart of an initiative where the Hawks and State Farm gifted $70,000 worth of new technology to six recreation centers to increase students interest in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math).
“In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., State Farm, the Atlanta Hawks and community partners have come together to really help children realize the dream,” said Tanya James, Corporate Social Responsibility with State Farm. “And one of the things that was very important to Dr. King was giving back to the community and also education. And so there were six technology drops around community centers very similar to these were the community centers were able to let us know the things that they really needed in the areas of technology. And so they’re going to be able to use those things on a daily basis when they come back to the community center and live that dream.”
Kim Rometo, Chief Innovation and Technology of the Atlanta Hawks, hosted a break-out station for students and shared her thoughts on the initiative.
“It’s been a lot of fun, tons of energy, and excitement,” Rometo said. “So thrilled to be here and be able to do that. My greatest hope is what I saw a few times today, which was just little sparks that the the youth that are here might see something in their future. We had future doctors in the room, and future technologists in the room. So just seeing that little spark and getting exposure to it will hopefully breed entire generation of people who just love love STEM.”
The Hawks and State Farm have led efforts in multiple community-focused initiatives to better serve Metro Atlanta. The organizations have previously teamed up to open eight Good Neighbor Clubs in locations such as: William Walker Recreation Center in Atlanta, Lucky Shoals Park in Gwinnett, Lynwood Park in Brookhaven, Bessie Branham in Decatur, Ron Anderson Recreation Center in Cobb County, Welcome All Park in South Fulton, Coan Park Recreation Center in Atlanta and N.H. Scott Recreation Center in Decatur.
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