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Kalamazoo 4H Races "Quadcopter" Drones

Mel Evans
/
AP Photo

Drones, those small, remotely controlled aircraft, are often used for things like making movies or monitoring crops on a farm. But Kalamazoo County’s 4H program has something different in mind – drone racing.

Four-H officials will hold a public meeting on Wednesday, September 20, to talk about the new Youth Quadcopter Racing program.

Four-H Program Coordinator Anthony Frontiera says mixing fun with education can expand interest in science, math, and engineering.

“With STEM, you get a lot of youth who are already interested in math and science already to a certain degree. And I think this sort of grabs the attention of some youth who might not already be interested in those sort of activities, and could possibly be an opportunity to get them to engage and explore more opportunities in the STEM field.”

A 2013 report by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International estimated that there will be more than 100-thousand jobs involving unmanned aircraft by 2025.

The Kalamazoo County 4H meeting on drone racing starts at 7:30 p.m., September 20, in the Walnut Conference Room of the Kalamazoo County Health and Human Services Building, 3299 Gull Road.

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