Lexington One Educational Foundation Award: 2025-2026 Michelin VEX Robotics Grants

Lexington 10/18/2025 - The Lexington County School District One Educational Foundation recently awarded the 2025-2026 Michelin VEX Robotics Grant Awards.  Thanks to the generosity of Michelin North America and the Lexington, South Carolina leadership team, this is the eighth year of this Educational Foundation grant award.

This year’s grants total $10,000, which is an outstanding financial investment by the Michelin US5 leaders. The support is given to strengthen STEM learning and develop the career skills of Lexington District One students. More specifically, these Educational Foundation grants support the middle and high school VEX robotics teams in Lexington District One and the participating students as they design and build robots to compete in local and state VEX competitions. Each year these students involved in robotics teams cultivate skills in design, building, engineering, coding, computational thinking, range of motion, and simple machinery, as well as collaboration, teamwork, marketing, and public speaking – all of which are desirable career skills to future employers.

The following ten VEX robotics school teams in Lexington District One were recognized this school year as Michelin VEX Robotics Grant winners by the Lexington One Educational Foundation:

Beechwood Middle School          Coaches Danielle Wyatt and Gina Rawl; Principal Leah Saratopolous

Carolina Springs Middle School   Coaches Kristen Young and Ashleigh Mann; Principal Patrice Green

Gilbert Middle School                  Coach Aquia Evans; Principal Dr. Stephanie Burgess

Lakeside Middle School               Coach Cezar Gherasim; Principal Dr. Megan Carrero

Lexington Technology Center     Coaches Melissa Boehler and Daniel Cummins; Director Bryce Myers

Pelion Middle School                   Coaches John Leneschmidt and Carman Mangus; Principal Jessica Keisler

Pleasant Hill Middle School         Coaches Darren Sigmon and Garrick Ball; Principal Julie Painter

River Bluff High School                Coach Horst Daichendt; Principal Jacob Smith

White Knoll High School              Coach Anibal Perez; Principal Nicholas Pearson

White Knoll Middle School          Coaches Stacey Summerall and Maritza Castellanos; Principal Donald Hardie

The Lexington One Educational Foundation’s Board of Directors and staff are extremely grateful for corporate partners like Michelin North America that choose to invest in local students and their future careers through their charitable donations to the foundation.

Gilbert Middle School

Lakeside Middle School

River Bluff High School