Mars-area stores selling student-designed eclipse glasses
The Mars Robotics Association teaches students in grades four through 12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills, but the students also gain business skills and marketing lessons in the process. Eclipse glasses designed by an association student, who also attends Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School, combined business knowledge with a scientific purpose.
Jeff Beckstead, president and mentor of the Mars Robotics Association, said the students were not only excited to create eclipse glasses, they were excited to have them printed and donated on a wide scale to elementary-age students.
“They were very excited about doing it,” Beckstead said. “They're used to the business aspect of developing a product and selling it.”
The association distributed about 3,500 eclipse glasses to elementary students at Mars, Knoch and St. Luke's Lutheran schools. The other 1,500 glasses produced by the association, Beckstead said, are being sold at businesses in the Mars area, including Mars Agway, Stick City Brewing Company, Valencia Donuts on Route 8 and the Speckled Hen. The money earned through the sale of the glasses is paying for the cost to produce the glasses, and some also will go toward Mars Robotics Association activities.
According to Beckstead, some members of the robotics association may watch the eclipse April 8 in Mars, alongside many other people looking to experience a “Martian” eclipse. He said the students are looking forward to seeing people in the community view the eclipse through glasses they helped produce.
“Part of the robotics group doing this is learning business skills,” he said. “We use robots, but it's really more about what the students can do; community support is our main focus.”
The eclipse glasses are also available to purchase online, by visiting the Mars Robotics Association’s website at marsroboticsassociation.org.
