Some students have an advantage as they return to school in Virginia’s Tidewater region. They’re the kids who learned about 3D design and printing in the Horizon Hampton Roads Summer Enrichment Program.
YouthQuest has been working with Horizons Hampton Roads since 2016 to adapt our 3D ThinkLink curriculum for the six-week program that serves children from low-income families in the Norfolk and Portsmouth area, helping them avoid summer learning loss.
The rising sixth-graders in our classes not only gain hands-on experience with computers, 3D printers and CAD (computer-aided design) software, they build confidence in themselves. They discover they can do something that seemed hard at first by learning from their mistakes and pushing ahead to achieve their goals.
Like the other at-risk kids YouthQuest reaches with the 3D ThinkLink Initiative – teens on the autism spectrum at the PHILLIPS schools and dropouts seeking a second chance in National Guard Youth ChalleNGe programs – the Horizons Hampton Roads students always want to use their 3D skills to give back in some way. This summer, they designed and printed plaques featuring the logos of Horizons Hampton Roads sponsors to thank them for their support.
