Case Study

Pasco County Schools

"They're available whenever I need them and the level of support has really been impressive. The fact that they came over and took the time to make sure what they've got really meets the needs of the audience that's purchasing and using them is pretty impressive."
Roberta-Starling-profile 2
Bobbi Starling

Senior Supervisor of Computer Science at Pasco County Schools

Intro

Strawbees is a simple solution that allows kids to take ownership of their own learning and provides an open ended way to create almost anything, which is what initially pulled Bobbi in.

She ended up rolling Strawbees out across multiple elementary and middle schools due to the versatility, price point as well as the generous and personalized customer service.

Chapter I Transforming Classrooms and Inspiring Creativity

Implementing Strawbees Across Grade Levels

Bobbi Starling, Senior Supervisor of Computer Science in Pasco County Schools came across Strawbees during an EdTech conference and was automatically drawn to the booth by the roller coaster our founder Erik built and the hands-on approach and potential for Strawbees to be implemented into the classroom. “The excitement and energy that Erik and the team had at the booth and the detail of the geometric design and the simplicity of the straw to make the design was really cool,” Bobbi said.

Before the introduction of Strawbees Classroom, Bobbi was so convinced by the combination of usability, sustainability, versatility and price point, that she rolled out Strawbees starting with dedicated STEM schools and gradually expanding to both elementary and middle schools. Strawbees is now embedded in the curriculum of 52 schools across Pasco County.

The Challenge: Finding the Right STEM Solution

With a district that serves over 90,000 students, finding the right resource for a big population was critical. “Trying to get any new resources into a big district can be really time consuming,” Bobbi said. 

A school district looking for a STEM education tool that works across multiple schools and grades face several key challenges including but not limited to curriculum alignment, scalability and differentiation, teacher training and support, technology adaptability, and accessibility. 

Strawbees addresses each of these challenges by providing curriculum aligned lessons on Strawbees Classroom as well as a tool that has versatility and applications across grade levels, languages and abilities, doesn’t face the challenges of adapting to different technological platforms and at a price point that is, as Bobbi noted, lower than the other available tools out there.

Hala Adnan Rivera Rentas, a teacher in Pasco County, has experienced students taking charge of their learning and building a variety of interesting inventions using Strawbees and micro:bit including an alarm clock that dances, a “lie detector” hat, a giant shark, and a “piggy bank” that encourages students to save more money. Their ability to make what they want means that they can problem solve on their own.

“They are happy inventing things and I like their motivation to build new things. I have kids that say, ‘I want to make a robot that changes diapers!’ They love it.” Hala said. “I only feel bad when I have to take apart what they’ve built because the fire marshall wouldn’t allow us to hang everything up.”

Patrina Conrow, a STEM teacher in Pasco County who teaches K-8, has found the versatility of Strawbees helps keep students engaged even with time limits, “Because it’s hands-on and requires thinking out of the box, depending on what they’re creating. It’s accessible to everybody and engaging for everybody. I have students ranging from ESE to IEPs to gifted all in the same class and they’re all engaged when we’re using Strawbees.”

“Strawbees gives teachers the ability to really focus on their lessons and not worry about whether their lesson is going to hit the standards that they’re trying to teach. That’s a game changer."
Bobbi Starling
Bobbi Starling

Senior Supervisor of Computer Science at Pasco County Schools

The Solution: Why They Chose Strawbees

A lot of people wondered why a school district ought to purchase straws, but these concerns were quickly addressed.

“Seeing some of the project ideas, even before there was Strawbees Classroom, and what you could actually teach with Strawbees as well as the sustainability and versatility of what you can do convinced them of why we should go forward. Not to mention, the price point was not as high compared to other tools we were looking at,” Bobbi said. 

But overall, it was the direct involvement of the Strawbees team in providing a personalized plan for what Pasco needed that turned Bobbi into a Strawbees advocate.

Hala expressed that the ability to incorporate Strawbees and micro:bit into other materials that the classroom uses also makes a big difference. “Some of the other products we’ve used have been bulky and difficult to work with. Strawbees is simple.”

Furthermore, Hala loves that Strawbees gives students the freedom to explore in a way that avoids boredom. “They don’t like it when I go through everything step by step. They get bored. They like when it’s a challenge. If I turn it into a competition then they do it without me having to direct them and they learn from each other and ask questions.”

Patrina also feels it’s one of the easiest tools to use to get students onboard. “Because of the tutorials and instructions which are very thorough, it wasn’t too complicated. I honestly feel like Strawbees is one of the easiest tools for engagement and just for building in general and then you can use the robotics component with it.”

"A lot of the other products available are huge and it's difficult to work with. But Strawbees is so simple. All you have to do is use the micro:bit. It's easy. They can make a silly alarm clock or machine or a safe.
Hala Rivera Rentas
Hala Rivera Rentas

Computer Science Teacher at Pasco County Schools

“I honestly feel like Strawbees is one of the easiest tools for engagement. It's versatile and students are very engaged.”
Patrina Conrow
Patrina Conrow

STEM Teacher at Pasco County Schools

Implementation: Rolling Out Strawbees District-Wide

Implementing a new tool to very busy educators who already feel overwhelmed may be daunting. Strawbees started in Pasco with a few STEM dedicated elementary schools and expanded from there because of the ease the teachers found in integrating Strawbees into their lessons.

Bobbi found that Strawbees actually provided many computer science teachers with something that they were lacking, especially for those teachers that do not have a computer science background.

 “Some other resources that are out there, they can be a little intimidating for computer science teachers. But when they see straws and connectors, they’re like, ‘I got this. I can do this’. They start there and then we build in with the micro:bit and the block coding platform and they get a little bit more confident,” Bobbi said.

After the integration in the elementary schools succeeded, Strawbees expanded throughout Pasco to every one of their 52 elementary schools and into middle school courses for coding fundamentals. 

“Because of the versatility, the lessons, and the applications, it really helped to expand it to multiple grade levels,” Bobbi said.

Hala has also found that the process of inventing and creating has helped kids learn self-confidence that carries into other areas of their life. “I really believe that it’s important to help kids learn to create things. They believe in themselves because they struggle and then it works. They like inventing and engineering and it’s all because of this little micro:bit. It’s amazing and I love it,” Hala said.

The teacher training provided by the district through the help of Strawbees was also impactful for Hala. “It makes me love what I’m doing more and it makes me want to do more because it makes me feel like I am really doing something amazing.” With the support of the school, Hala is able to bring the inventions that students make with Strawbees and when the school is proud of them Hala notices a difference.

“I have had so many kids change because they start to believe in themselves.”

Patrina also found that not only the professional development provided but also the feedback taken onboard by Strawbees helped improve the experience she had in the classroom. “One thing I really love is that the feedback that’s given by teachers to the company is actually taken into consideration. I could not click on a number (on Strawbees Classroom) where I had left off. I was literally in the middle of a project with my kids and they noticed, ‘We can click on the numbers now!’. So they actually went in and fixed it and that was just really awesome.”

“Some other resources that are out there, they can be a little intimidating for computer science teachers. But when they see straws and connectors, they’re like, ‘I got this. I can do this’. They start there and then we build in with the micro:bit and the block coding platform and they get a little bit more confident.”
Roberta-Starling-profile 2
Bobbi Starling

Senior Supervisor of Computer Science at Pasco County Schools

“They believe in themselves because they struggle and then it works. They like inventing and engineering and it's all because of this little micro:bit. It's amazing and I love it. I have had so many kids change because they start to believe in themselves.”
HalaPortrait
Hala Rivera Rentas

Computer Science Teacher at Pasco County Schools

Results & Impact: What Changed?

It’s easy enough to purchase a tool but a tool can only be successful if it is implemented well. Strawbees isn’t just a hands-on educational tool but, when implemented within a district, comes with a level of customer service that made Bobbi passionate about Strawbees.

“Early when we first started, we got some visits from Rasmus Carlsson and Andreas Hoel and they were amazing. They actually sat down with people at district level to ask for feedback and they continue to listen. The most recent one I can think of is allowing builds to be a PDF download so teachers can print them and that’s been implemented,” Bobbi said.

On top of implementing suggestions from the district, Strawbees also took the time to meet with Bobbi to help create a personalized plan for professional development for the teachers, virtual and in person, constantly seeking feedback from teachers about what they like about Strawbees, how they feel and how Strawbees can be improved.

Hala personally noticed that the impact that inventing and creating had was notable among students who struggled with other classes and even had behavioral problems. “I found that some of the kids that were doing the best in my class were struggling in others and because they were able to master engineering, it made them believe in themselves,” Hala said. 

After hearing other students compare themselves and believe they were not smart enough, she noticed that after building in her class, their attitudes changed. “They did a lot of cool things and now they’re saying ‘I will be an engineer when I grow up and I will invent stuff’. I love it especially if they have struggled in other classes, it’s a big deal and it feels like I was able to help them believe in themselves.”

Beyond just building self confidence, the tactile nature of Strawbees was particularly useful to struggling learners. Bobbi found that the alignment with Florida’s standards across various subjects meant it could be successfully implemented and the addition of robotics helped keep student interest when surveying teachers over more complicated and expensive tools available like 3D printing and laser cutting.

Bobbi has also seen a shift in one of the school’s most widely low performing standards about how plants respond to stimuli in third grade science.

“Strawbees has a lesson where you can build a light sensing plant and mode phototrophism. After that lesson was embedded into the science curriculum, we’ve seen a huge change in that standard. I’m certain that if you dig into the impact data with a standard that is tied to one of the hands-on Strawbees robotic inventions, there’s going to be a super strong correlation between student learning and achievement,” Bobbi said.

The easy integration of Strawbees into the curriculum is something that Patrina also noticed. “There’s coding involved and also computational thinking and reasoning. It can be integrated into reading and writing. It wouldn’t be hard to use Strawbees within different content areas.”

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Why Districts Should Say Yes to Strawbees

If any district is considering Strawbees, Bobbi can give them two big reasons to say yes:

“The curriculum standard alignment and the student engagement. When you see some of the lessons that are there (on Strawbees Classroom) along with those finished working models, you don’t have any hesitation whatsoever. And if you’re wondering how much it’s going to cost, that’s there too. The price point is much lower compared to other things that are out there,” Bobbi said.

Patrina agrees that the versatility Strawbees provides creates a high level of engagement across the board. “Strawbees is accessible to everybody, not just one group of students. It’s accessible to all students. You can use them last minute too, if you need to. Even my fifth graders who are getting to be in middle school can be a bit rowdy. When I bring out the Strawbees, they’re all engaged and they love to compete against each other.”

Strawbees’ success in Pasco County Schools is something that Bobbi feels could work across the state of Florida and she is leading the charge to train teachers in Florida on Strawbees over other tools currently on the market.

“When you have limited time with teachers and limited resources, you pick the ones that you think are going to be the most impactful. Strawbees is one of those,” Bobbi said.

In addition to supporting Bobbi in her summer teacher training, Strawbees is providing STEAM Starter Kits and finding a partner who can help supply microbits to teachers attending the program to help make the training impactful. 

“It’s not just the teachers that are passionate about getting a great resource into the hands of kids, but everybody behind the scenes at Strawbees is equally passionate. It’s an amazing partnership.”

The support of Bobbi and the training provided has also made Hala feel more confident in her role in supporting younger people. “I have so many kids who have changed. Especially when they were in other grades and they didn’t do well, now they are doing better because they start to believe in themselves.”

“The curriculum standard alignment and the student engagement. When you see some of the lessons that are there (on Strawbees Classroom) along with those finished working models, you don’t have any hesitation whatsoever. And if you’re wondering how much it’s going to cost, that’s there too. The price point is much lower compared to other things that are out there.”
Roberta-Starling-profile 2
Bobbi Starling

Senior Supervisor of Computer Science at Pasco County Schools

“It's accessible to everybody, not just one group of students. There's coding involved, computational thinking and reasoning and it can be integrated into reading and writing. It wouldn't be hard to use this within different content areas.”
Patrina Conrow
Patrina Conrow

STEM Teacher at Pasco County Schools