Zipping through the Heritage Middle School hallways and gym after school on Thursdays, small drones climb, dive and hover, darting back and forth shooting low-resolution videos. Members of the school's Cougar Drones club manipulate handheld controls to propel them over, under, around and through obstacles.
 
Outside, in a field behind the Chino Valley school, other students fly slightly larger, sturdier drones that are better able to handle the afternoon breezes and can take higher resolution video.
 
Computer science teacher Rob Lynch oversees the club and its activities. He was able to buy the drones, which each cost $150 or $425 depending on the model, replacement parts and accessories thanks to a grant from the Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers program.
 
With tight funding at this Title I school where 70 percent of students qualify for reduced price or free lunch, students are getting real-time lessons that they would not otherwise have been able to experience.
 
"Interest in science and tech-related fields has definitely increased," Lynch says. "My students now get the chance to work with state-of-the-art technology while also learning life lessons and getting the chance to interact with each other outside the normal classroom setting. They are having lots of fun and are thankful for the opportunity that the funding provided."
 
Lynch found out that his wish had been granted last fall during the annual Palo Verde Fiesta Bowl Charities Wishes for Teachers Draft Day presented by SRP. Local community heroes and celebrities randomly selected the 2022 grantees who had applied and informed those teachers that their wishes came true.
 
It took several months after the grant was awarded to procure the equipment and get the permissions needed to fly the drones. The first flights began last spring when the club formed and resumed in September with the older kids now instructing the new and younger club members.
 
"Without the wonderful opportunity to receive this funding my class would still be wondering if they would ever get the chance to fly a drone at their school in an educational environment," he says. "Being able to learn, interact and be mentors to new club attendees is giving many of my quieter students the opportunity to shine in a manner that is not always available during the regular school day.
 
"News of the club is spreading down to our feeder school, and we already have interest from the incoming fifth grade students," Lynch says. "The intent is to eventually get into racing either FPV drones (First Person View) or smaller, faster drones in local competitions with other schools, if we can get them on board." 
 
The eight-year-old Wishes for Teachers program was created after the Fiesta Bowl Organization saw how teachers often spend their own money to enhance the classroom experience. The program helps overcome that financial burden by funding teachers' wish lists with $2,500 for such things as new computers and technology, special education sensory and manipulative materials, vision testing and glasses for students, robotics, new libraries and classroom makeovers.
 
Since its inception in 2016, Wishes for Teachers has granted $5.7 million to 1,600 public and charter school K-12 teachers across the state of Arizona, impacting over 700,000 students across the state.