3D Print The Future!

AwesomeStPaul is proud to announce our latest grant to 3D Print The Future! We chose this application because it supports the creative instincts of students and allows 6th and 7th grade students at St. Paul School of Northern Lights to turn their ideas into reality. We can’t wait to see what they build. Congratulations.

According to Teacher Michael Harrison, "There are many things kids have interests in. From building drones to bird feeders, students love to create and be creative. One hope I have had for the year is that I can help students to explore this range of projects by using a 3D printer. Our project will help students learn how to do some basic programming (by teaching them how to design a 3D printer program) and to only limit themselves by their imaginations. I want them to be able to dream of a project and instead of not being able to carry it out because we do not have the resources to buy all the parts they need when we can just print them in our classroom as needed. As a Reggio Emilia school, we do a lot of project based and environmental based learning. A few projects that students have ideas for that I would like to help them with are:

Building a Drone
Designing a Bicycle
ReImagining Chess (designing their own pieces and a different chess board)
Fishing Lures
Designing their own Pokemon
Cars, Cars, Cars (and more Cars)

These all have parts that can be found anywhere, but if we could teach kids to design their own components, it would add another element of engineering and design that we cannot get with out proper equipment. Allowing them to carry out their own designs would help us to expand project based learning to another level."

Funded by St. Paul, MN (November 2022)