Press releases are posted on Independent.com as a free community service.
Santa Barbara, CA. (May 2025) – The Riviera Ridge School added to their robust Electives program this year with a new offering that really took off – Mini Drones. Led by new JK-8th Grade STEAM Integration Specialist Tracy Williamson, the course added to their robotics studies by featuring the DroneBlocks curriculum. Through this resource, students got the chance to build mini Crazyflie drones and learn to fly them through a variety of challenges and obstacles using a drone flight simulator and block coding. Students also learned how drones are used in real-world scenarios in the air, water, and on land. They even entered a worldwide DroneBlocks competition in which they created a video showcasing their coding and micro-missions.
“Rather than flying the drones with a remote controller, we used the web-based app, DroneBlocks, to code the drones to fly. Students discovered how accurately the drones performed, how the slightest change in air pressure, altitude or obstacles in the room affects a flight, and they did a lot of troubleshooting,” Williamson said. “We incorporated engineering of obstacles and maps and folded in tons of math and science as we measured and calculated distance, predicted flight patterns, and learned how to rebuild a drone after crashing.”
The DroneBlocks mini mission competition was unfortunately canceled due to lack of participation. When the DroneBlocks team found out that if the Riviera Ridge students won the competition they would have donated their winnings to a local school to start their own program, DroneBlocks was inspired and offered to donate two Crazyflie drones and a year of their curriculum to a local program. Williamson has confirmed that Gateway Educational Services is excited to receive The Riviera Ridge School’s donation to their girls’ Summer STEAM Academy.
The Crazyflie drones come in an assembly kit, so students had to build the drones with all the components before they even began their micro missions. After witnessing the students’ hard work in their competition video, the DroneBlocks education rep wanted the students to be applauded, so he created a reaction video to their video and even Zoomed with the group of 6th through 8th grade students to congratulate them and chat. Students were able to reflect on their process and engage in a Q&A with the rep, who asked them about their favorite parts of this process.
“Learning how to overcome the challenges is probably the best part of the elective,” 8th grader Matias Calderon said. The students expressed an authentic growth mindset as they laughed and shared the joys of learning by trial and error. In addition to life skills, like embracing mistakes in order to grow, students witnessed more relevant applications of their elective, including a trip to the Santa Barbara Airport to see how drones are being used locally.
“There are so many real-world connections to the emerging field of drone usage: from agriculture, to ecology and environmental support, surveying forest fires, search and rescue, and so much more,” Williamson said. “I would love to see these students return for this elective next year and become mentors to a new group of students experiencing the mini drones for the first time.”
With hopes to use LED kits to add to the Crazyflies so students can code light displays, potential collaborations with other school drone programs, and exploring e-sports, like drone soccer, the Riviera Ridge Mini Drones elective will continue to seek new heights of learning.
At Riviera Ridge, we provide student-centered, individualized learning in a joyful and nurturing community, inspiring academic excellence and valuing difference. The educational vision for each Riviera Ridge graduate is to empower individual potential, inspire purpose beyond self, and cultivate social responsibility as they prepare for high school and beyond.
For more information, email info@rivieraridge.org or call 805-569-1811 ext. 131.
