Robots in Every Classroom: Cleveland students get hands-on with AI future
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon joined state and industry leaders last week for the ribbon-cutting of a new robotics initiative in Cleveland’s public schools. It’s a program local officials say will prepare students for careers in an economy transformed by artificial intelligence and automation.
The Experiential Robotics Platform (XRP) will place more than 1,000 low-cost robotics kits in Cleveland Metropolitan School District classrooms this fall. The kits, cheaper than most textbooks, allow students to assemble and program robots while gaining exposure to 3D printing, coding, and engineering design.
A global platform lands in Cleveland
The XRP program began in 2019 as a White House workforce initiative and has since expanded with support from the National Science Foundation. More than 25,000 kits have been delivered to schools in 180 countries. Cleveland is now among the first districts in the nation to integrate the platform at scale, and Ohio hopes to become only the second state after New Hampshire to adopt it statewide.
What makes the program distinct is its “Pay It Forward” model: industry partners help design the tools, colleges and universities manufacture them, and K–12 classrooms put them to use. The model leverages 3D printers already owned by schools, giving college students manufacturing experience while lowering costs for districts.
At East Tech High School, students in a manufacturing pre-apprenticeship program will use MAGNET’s 3D print farm to build more than 500 XRP robots for distribution to CMSD middle schools. The project connects directly to the district’s growing robotics ecosystem, which includes FIRST® Robotics teams, middle school leagues, and STEM camps with Cleveland State University.
Corporate and state backing
Northeast Ohio-headquartered Sherwin-Williams played a central role in bringing the program to Ohio, working with JobsOhio, the Ohio Manufacturers Association, and The Ohio State University.
JobsOhio CEO J.P. Nauseef called the initiative critical to the state’s economic competitiveness: “Launching the Experiential Robotics Platform… ensures the state’s talent pipeline is ready to excel in roles where coding, robotics, and artificial intelligence skills are essential.”
Looking to scale statewide
Ohio lawmakers are weighing how to scale the program statewide, with State Representative Kevin Ritter estimating a three-year, $9 million investment could outfit classrooms across the state. “A modest and achievable investment with transformative potential,” Ritter said.
Stephen Dackin, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Director, called the launch “another step toward equipping Ohio students with the skills necessary to thrive in an innovation-driven economy.”
The big picture
The Cleveland launch underscores Ohio’s broader strategy to position itself as a national leader in advanced manufacturing and AI-driven industries. By embedding robotics and computational learning in classrooms, state leaders hope to build a homegrown workforce pipeline — one that keeps pace with the technological shifts already reshaping the job market.