A student controls a drone during Drone Soccer class
On a regular school morning, it’s common to see district middle school students jostling with flight dynamics and the basics of aviation, as they look to fly drones through a circular goal.
At the Duquesne City School District, creative approaches to education are the norm, especially when it comes to determining electives, which offers a chance for teachers to meet students where they’re at with their interests, all while teaching them valuable skills. One of the latest offshoots to that creative approach is drone soccer, a new elective in the district.
On the surface, drone soccer is a game, with the initiative being to fly a drone soccer ball through a hanging goal. But dive further and the class offers students a chance to explore aviation, problem-solving skills and teamwork.
“The kids have really enjoyed it,” said Desiree Bluett, a paraprofessional in the district.
Sanctioned by the U.S. Drone Soccer Association, drone soccer was formally launched at the end of 2021. While Duquesne City is one of the first districts to adopt it in the region, drone soccer is quickly growing, as an estimated 240 schools in the United States host drone soccer teams.
Drone soccer gameplay is more closely aligned with quidditch than actual soccer and is played within 10-foot-by-20-foot indoor arenas. The district renovated a room to accommodate that arena. During the class, students learn how to fly drones and explore careers within aviation.
“A lot of the stuff they’re learning about is involved with aviation. That’s the whole reason that drone soccer first came about,” said Michelle Stowell, who is currently teaching the class. “There weren’t as many people interested in that career, so introducing it at an early age with drone soccer has shown more interest with aviation.”
Drone soccer fits in well with the district’s priority on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) learning and career preparation. Last semester, the class started with students building the drones themselves, a challenge that required teamwork and problem-solving.
With the drones built, much of the rest of the class — and the class this semester — is focused on learning to fly the drones.
“It’s not as easy as they think it is. When they first saw the controller they thought about Xbox or PlayStation, and that they could just push the buttons and it would be easy. But there’s a lot more than that to it,” said Bluett. “What’s neat about it is watching everyone work together. They’re in small groups and they work together to problem solve and figure out what went wrong, why the drone isn’t flying, why it didn’t fly the next day, different things like that. I think it’s been a successful class.”
Given their proclivity for technology, Stowell said that students have caught on quickly.
“They’re growing up in such a technological age. They are so advanced with the technology that they’re troubleshooting and figuring out solutions that we never would have thought of,” said Stowell. “They have to pay attention to the smallest details, like the direction of the motors and the way the propellers are even put on the drone, but also adding the rotation to it as well. They’ve realized in order to troubleshoot, they have to cross this, this and this off the list.”
Stowell said the class has had some other unintended and intended benefits. With a growing population of ESL (English as a Second Language) students in the district who are interested in soccer, this helps scratch the soccer itch. Plus, as the district does with World of Work and other initiatives, students are introduced to careers through the class that they might’ve not thought of previously.
“It’s nice that all of the electives we have are focused on a career that they could potentially have someday,” said Stowell.