The YouthQuest Foundation is celebrating our 3D ThinkLink Initiative’s biggest class cycle since the STEM education project began. Thirty students received certificates of completion this month.
YouthQuest provided 36 hours of instruction in 3D design and printing to help the students at National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academies in South Carolina, Maryland and the District of Columbia improve their critical thinking skills and explore their creative abilities.
YouthQuest Vice President and Co-Founder Allen Cage spoke during the Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy commencement ceremony at the University of the District of Columbia on June 14.
Students at Freestate received their awards from President and Co-Founder Lynda Mann during a ceremony on June 10 in Aberdeen, Md.
YouthQuest Secretary Bill Hall represented the Foundation at the South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy’s awards ceremony in Eastover, S.C., on June 9. We don’t have video from the South Carolina event, but you can see photos of the SCYCA class during Vocational Orientation Day here.
A total of 56 at-risk teens have completed our 3D ThinkLink Initiative training since we launched the project at Freestate early last year.
Several of the students from the latest classes will be invited to participate in a week of immersion training in August at our headquarters in Chantilly, Va., to add more layers to their knowledge of 3D printing.
YouthQuest is working to expand the 3D ThinkLink Initiative to more ChalleNGe programs and other youth organizations that work in underserved communities. We are also creating a 3D fabrication laboratory, which will have advanced hardware and software for students and members of the local community to use.
Freestate ChalleNGe Academy
Jarrod Burley
Rashad Byrd
Kayla Coleman
Requan Da Sant
Dakota Doyle
Harold Dugger
Rene Martinez-Zapata
Darius Monroe
Denzel Thyme
Christian Zapata
Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy
Gerardo Aguilar
Daisha Allen
Estafania Contreras-Flores
Alexander Cruz
Daikow Jones
Daquan Lewis
Thomas Lewis
Demetrius Morgan
John Platt
Rasaan Washington
South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy
Joseph Bennett
Joseph Clark
Terrance Flagler
Raymond Gilliam
Megan Jones
Brice Lamb
Tyrese Patrick
Gregory Thompson
Tevin Vanderhall
Christopher Watts
A wide world of possibilities awaits the students from South Carolina, Maryland and the District of Columbia who have just completed the 3D ThinkLink Initiative training course provided by the YouthQuest Foundation.
They got a close-up look at some of their educational and career opportunities during Vocational Orientation events last week.
YouthQuest’s 3D design and printing classes supplement the math and science curriculum at three National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Academies, where high school dropouts get a chance to turn their lives around. Our project introduces these at-risk teens to the revolutionary technology of additive manufacturing while also helping them develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills they need to succeed.
Students at the 3D Systems plant in Virginia
The South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy class was treated to an extensive tour of 3D Systems headquarters in Rock Hill, S.C., on June 5. The next day, the Cadets from Maryland’s Freestate and DC’s Capital Guardian programs visited the 3D Systems facility in Herndon, Va., where the Cube 2 printers they used in class were made.
The company is the Foundation’s strategic partner in the 3D ThinkLink Initiative.
“3D Systems really pulled out all the stops for us,” said YouthQuest President and Co-Founder Lynda Mann.
She praised the many 3D Systems employees who took time to show the students around and answer their questions. Their explanations helped the Cadets see how concepts they learned about in school, such as the scientific method, are used on the job.
In Rock Hill, employees from many departments – such as accounting, legal, sales and human resources – joined the students during lunch to take the conversation beyond technology. They asked about the Cadets’ aspirations and described the sometimes-twisted path they took to their job at 3D Systems. The teens came away with some valuable insights to consider as they plan their own careers.
The South Carolina students wrapped up their day with a visit to ITT Technical Institute in Columbia, where they explored opportunities in skilled-trades education and used a computer program to create some simple house designs.
Maryland FabLab Director Jim O’Connor
The Maryland NanoCenter at the University of Maryland was the first stop for the DC and Maryland students on June 6. FabLab Director Jim O’Connor used a 60-year-old transistor radio and a silicon disk printed with billions of microscopic transistors to illustrate nanotechnology. Then he took the group into a lab where engineers and biologists are working together to 3D-print human tissue.
The Cadets were impressed and pleasantly surprised to learn that they’re only a few years younger than many of the students they met who help with the groundbreaking research in the lab.
Switching from the research to the production aspects of 3D printing, the students toured Prototype Productions, Inc. in Ashburn, Va.
PPI’s Chief Technology Officer Ben Feldman and Project Engineer Darin Janoschka showed how the company uses a combination of additive manufacturing and traditional machine shop work to develop products for clients in industries including medical, biotech, aerospace and defense.
Coming a week before graduation, these Vocational Orientation events were important in providing real-world context for the lessons the students learned in class. Now, as they take the next step in their lives, they have a better understanding of the options available to them, thanks to our 3D ThinkLink Initiative.
Students in YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative classes got the opportunity to do some learning and some teaching at the USA Science & Engineering Festival in Washington, DC, on April 25-27.
The Cadets and teachers from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy and the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy joined our Foundation’s President and Co-Founder Lynda Mann, Director of Instruction Tom Meeks and Communications Director Steve Pendlebury at YouthQuest’s exhibit booth.
“Everyone had a good experience here,” said Capital Guardian Cadet Alexander Cruz. “It was too interesting. You find things you would never think of.”
“I’m glad to be exposed to new things like this,” added his classmate, Cadet Daikwon Jones.
The 3rd USA Science & Engineering Festival was billed as America’s largest celebration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). Imagine a three-day school science fair that fills both levels of the Washington Convention Center, in which the parents helped make all the displays – and all the parents are geniuses.
Hundreds of children and adults stopped by our booth to see what our students are learning and to hear about how the 3D ThinkLink Initiative is helping them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
“I got to see stuff I never saw before. I got to think in ways other than I usually think about how to solve problems using different types of strategies,” Capital Guardian Cadet Demetrius Morgan said.
With the help of our strategic partner, 3D Systems, we had students operate a Sense 3D scanner to show how multiple images are captured and stitched together to create the data file that is then turned into a plastic object by a Cube 3D printer.
The Cadets also helped small children assemble 3D-printed stackable beehive puzzles to demonstrate the concept of building objects in layers. They explained to the kids that bees are nature’s 3D printers because they make honeycombs by stacking up layers of wax in precise patterns, just as the Cube machine does with heated plastic filament.
“It was a good experience to talk to people about 3D printing,” said Freestate Cadet Daniel Mueller. “I have a better understanding of it now.”
When they weren’t staffing the booth, the students explored other exhibits and quickly discovered that they’re seeing the start of the additive manufacturing boom. The technology they’re learning about in class is quickly spreading to all sorts of industries, opening new career opportunities for those who have 3D design and printing skills.
Visitors who had been to the festival before remarked about how many displays included 3D printers this time. Just a year or two ago, the machines were a rarity. In fact, there were so many this year that a young boy asked one of our fellow exhibitors, “Is 3D printing the theme of this festival?”
It might as well have been.
However, there was also much more on display at the USASEF.
“One thing I found fascinating was the robots; how they built them, and how they use them for many things from just plain toys to defusing bombs for the SWAT team,” said Freestate Cadet Dakota Doyle.
The festival helped Freestate Cadet Kayla Coleman “learn much more about astronomy.” Her dream is to work for NASA.
“I never thought I’d be interested in science stuff like this” said Capital Guardian Cadet Daisha Allen. Being at the festival changed her mind.
In addition to learning more about STEM subjects, the students got to work on their presentation skills and practice speaking in public.
“It gave me more of the skills of talking to people because I’m not really used to it, but I know it’s something I have to work on. So it was fun for me to learn how to communicate with people better,” said Freestate Cadet Kayla McFadden.
Several visitors to our booth remarked about how poised and well-spoken the Cadets were – and what a good job they did working with the younger children.
It was clear, though, that there’s still a bit of little kid in these young men and women who are just weeks away from graduation. Asked to name their favorite activity at the USASEF, the overwhelming majority of Cadets said it was getting to eat graham crackers that had been dipped in super-cold liquid nitrogen.
To see why, watch this video from one of the STEM celebrities who appeared at the festival, Bill Nye the Science Guy.
With a new cycle of 3D ThinkLink Initiative classes starting, it’s a good time to take a look at where our STEM education project has been and where it’s going.
The South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy is holding classes for the first time — joining the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy, which introduced classes last fall, and Freestate, where the YouthQuest Foundation launched this project last spring.
3D ThinkLink Initiative teacher training
Instructors from all three schools spent a week at YouthQuest headquarters last month preparing for this class cycle. While the teachers work in the classrooms, YouthQuest’s Director of Instruction Tom Meeks will lead the sessions via video conferencing from a central location. Tom will also visit each class so he can get to know the students in person and reinforce the message that the things they learn in class will help them make better decisions.
As our 3D ThinkLink Initiative grows, so does the support we receive from our strategic partner, 3D Systems, which provides the Cube printers, Sense scanners and Sculpt software students use in class.
The South Carolina students will tour the company’s Rock Hill headquarters in June as part of their Vocational Orientation Day, which shows them how the skills they learn in class are used in the working world.
We also are teaming up with 3D Systems for an exhibit at the USA Science and Engineering Festival, the nation’s largest celebration of STEM, next month in Washington, DC.
Students from Freestate and Capital Guardian will participate in interactive demonstrations of 3D scanning, modeling and printing. They will have the chance to tell other students what our classes have taught them about solving problems by thinking creatively. When they’re not at our booth, they’ll be exploring the scientific wonderland of exhibits that will fill the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
Visit our exhibit at the USA Science and Engineering Festival April 26-27. Participants include more than 750 of the world’s top scientific and engineering societies, universities, government agencies, tech companies and STEM outreach and community organizations. We’ll be in Hall A, Booth 1136 – right next to 3D Systems. It’s free!
The festival is sure to be the kind of life-enriching experience our foundation strives to provide for at-risk youth. It’s also an excellent opportunity to tell our story to people in the STEM education and additive manufacturing communities who can help support YouthQuest’s mission.
One of our immediate priorities is to begin creating a 3D fabrication laboratory equipped with software and printers that can do more than the ones our students use in class. Two students from each of the classes that are now starting will be selected to spend a week in the lab in July, where they will delve deeper into 3D printing and learn to work with materials other than plastic, such as clay and even candy.
Eventually, community groups and individuals will be able to use the facility for a fee, to help cover the costs of our educational programs.
Another goal for this year is to expand the 3D ThinkLink Initiative beyond the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program. YouthQuest President and Co-Founder Lynda Mann is leading an outreach effort to partner with other youth organizations that work in underserved communities throughout America.
Click on the video below for more about where we’ve been and where we’re headed.
Co-Founders Lynda Mann and Allen Cage explain The YouthQuest Foundation’s mission to give America’s at-risk teens the opportunity to change their lives through education.
Patience. Persistence. Attention to detail. Creativity.
Those are some of the lessons the YouthQuest Foundation’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative taught Cadets at the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy.
Our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education project not only introduces students to the revolutionary field of additive manufacturing, it uses 3D design and printing classes to teach critical thinking skills that help at-risk teens make better decisions as they enter adulthood.
“I didn’t think I could learn anything like this before,” said Cadet Dalonta Crudup, whose dream is to design and build his own house from the ground up.
“I was thinking that when I start architecture in college it was going to be hard, but joining this class has made it seem a lot easier – how to deal with things, how to deal with situations and building stuff,” he said.
Cadet Niema Travers also was worried at first that she wouldn’t be able to learn 3D design and printing.
“Now I can do this without any problem,” she said with a smile. “It made me feel better than anything because … to be able to make something on the computer, for it to print out and be in your hand, is amazing.”
The 3D classes taught Niema, who has her sights set on a career in information technology, to be patient and methodical in solving problems.
“You have to figure out which piece goes where and if you do it wrong, you have to figure out what happened and go back,” she explained. “It takes a lot of hard work, but I love it.”
“It helped me pay attention to detail,” agreed Cadet Kenneth Cruz, who hopes to study 3D printing in college and perhaps become a video game designer.
It was also a confidence-builder for Kenneth and his classmates.
“Being in this class, it helped me understand that you can put your mind to anything,” he said.
The 3D ThinkLink Initiative gave Cadet Gerry Rubi, who plans to be a civil engineer, the opportunity to get creative with technology.
“One of the main things it taught me is there’s a lot of ways to do one thing,” he said.
Gerry took a 3D engineering class at his previous school, but was only able to look at his designs on a computer screen.
“We never got the chance to physically print it out and be able to hold it and say we created that,” he said.
The class at Capital Guardian allowed him to come up ideas for objects, design and print them and make revisions until he was satisfied with finished item. Gerry likened it to the difference between “drawing a picture and bringing the picture to life.”
YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative was launched at Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy early last year and expanded to Capital Guardian in the fall. The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program operates these residential academies where dropouts get a second chance to earn a high school degree and prepare for employment or continued education. The ChalleNGe program in South Carolina will start 3D ThinkLink Initiative classes in a few weeks.
There are some very special ornaments on display this Christmas season in the homes of the teenagers who completed the latest 3D ThinkLink Initiative classes sponsored by The YouthQuest Foundation at Freestate and Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies.
As a final assignment, YouthQuest Training Director Tom Meeks had the Cadets in the Maryland and District of Columbia ChalleNGe programs use their imaginations to design and fabricate any kind of ornament they could dream up. The idea was to encourage them to be creative and to produce something meaningful they could take home to their families after graduation.
Some of the ornaments are reflections of the changes these at-risk teens have gone through during the 22-week residential programs operated by the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Foundation.
Perhaps the most poignant creation is Capital Guardian Cadet Dalonta Crudup’s ornament.
He wanted to make something that “would just stand out.” His inspiration came from his best friend, Malik Spears – know to all as “Wiz” – who was fatally shot in Northeast DC this summer, just before Dalonta entered the ChalleNGe program.
“This is like a tombstone,” he said, holding the circular object that bears a heartfelt message. “I made this to show appreciation from me to his family.”
“He was like a brother and I was always with him every single day,” Dalonta explained. “It says: Rest in Peace, Wiz. We miss you. We thought of you with love today but that is nothing new. We thought about you yesterday and the days before that too.”
Some of Dalonta’s fellow Cadets from the District of Columbia also knew Wiz.
“It meant a lot to the class,” he said. Although it was “very hard” to complete the project, when his classmates saw what he’d done, they realized they could come up with their own creations, too.
“It was a lot of steps. We had to keep switching it to get it to work,” recalled Dalonta, who plans to study math and business in college and eventually pursue a career in architecture.
In the first version of his design, the raised letters on the ornament were too small so they got “all smooshed up together.” Over three weeks of classes, he kept revising his design until he was satisfied with the results.
The project helped reinforce one of the 3D ThinkLink Initiative’s most important lessons: Make improvements step-by step until you achieve your goal.
When he started the program this summer, Dalonta was “very sad … very frustrated” about the killing of his best friend. Making the memorial ornament helped him get through his grief, he said.
At Capital Guardian’s graduation ceremony this month, Dalonta was honored as the Most Improved Cadet in his class of more than 50.
A Christmas Rose for Grandma
Capital Guardian Cadet Kenneth Cruz holds the rose lantern her created.
Capital Guardian Cadet Kenneth Cruz also had someone close to him in mind when he created his design.
The cylindrical ornament has an elaborate rose pattern cut into it, which casts a warm glow when a small light is placed inside. He unveiled the gift for his grandmother on stage at the DC Armory during the Dec. 13 graduation ceremony.
“I made this lantern with a rose on it for her for Christmas, but I guess I’m giving it to her now,” Kenneth announced as the crowd laughed and cheered.
Cadet Gerry Rubi said that of all the projects the 3D ThinkLink class did, making an ornament taught him the most because he was free to create his own design.
Using Moment of Inspiration modeling software, Gerry began with a simple cube. He removed all the corners, added designs to each face, scooped out the top to form a bowl and put a slot in the side for storing keys or other small items. The Cube 3D printer then turned his idea into a unique ornament that’s sure to become a family heirloom.
“It gave me a chance to play around with all the software and all the creativity I can put into it,” he said.
“One of the main things it taught me is there’s a lot of ways to do one thing,” added Gerry, who plans to become a civil engineer and received the top award, Cadet of the Cycle, at Capital Guardian’s graduation.
The 3D-printed rose lantern made by Cadet Kenneth Cruz
“It’s a wonderful program for the Cadets,” said Keith Hammond, Capital Guardian’s Manager of Information Systems, who helped teach the 3D classes.
“They now know that they are creative,” he continued. “Before this class, they may have had creativity bottled up inside them but because they couldn’t draw, they weren’t labeled an artist, they felt like they couldn’t be creative and they couldn’t identify themselves that way. Now, with this class and with the tools that we’re using, they can be creative and they know they have an outlet for that creativity.”
YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative gives at-risk teens an advantage as they enter a workforce where STEM skills are in high demand. The classes prepare students to successfully compete for a growing array of technology-related jobs that don’t require a college degree or to continue their education in one of the STEM disciplines. In addition, the program builds self-confidence and problem-solving skills that help graduates achieve their goals no matter what career path they choose.
The Cadets in our 3D ThinkLink Initiative classes have just taken a giant step toward a successful future as they completed the 22-week residential program at Freestate and Capital Guardian ChalleNGe Academies.
Eighteen young people were honored at award presentations and graduation ceremonies in Maryland and Washington, DC, last week.
Recognizing that STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education is essential in today’s workforce, the YouthQuest Foundation developed the 3D ThinkLink Initiative and teamed up with the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, which operates residential academies where dropouts get a second chance to earn a high school degree and prepare for employment or continued education.
Launched at Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy early this year and expanded to include the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy this fall, the unique project uses 3D design and printing to teach critical thinking and problem-solving skills to students who once gave up on school.
Selected Cadets receive 25 hours of training that supplements their regular math and science curriculum. Instructors have found that students in these classes gain confidence and become more engaged in all their other courses. In addition, the Cadets discover that learning to think creatively has benefits beyond the classroom. The skills and values they develop will help them achieve their goals no matter what career path they choose.
Several Cadets from the 3D project received special recognition during their graduation ceremonies. Cadet of the Cycle awards, the highest honor a Cadet can earn, went to Gerry Rubi from Capital Guardian and Jennifer Contreras from Freestate. Capital Guardian’s Dalonta Crudup and Freestate’s Trinisia Reese were named Most Improved Cadets. Many others received scholarships for their leadership and academic achievements.
In the second phase of the ChalleNGe program, graduates return to their communities to continue their education or begin careers under the guidance of mentors who will serve as their role models, advisers and advocates for a year.
Congratulations to all the graduates!
Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy Jose Buruca
Dalonta Crudup
Kenneth Cruz
Albert Fuller
TaShawna Richardson
Gerry Rubi
Dejah Stanley
Niema Travers
Freestate ChalleNGe Academy
Jennifer Contreras
Miguel Espinal-Herrera
Jaasiel Headly
Kameron Johnson
Sanfa Kanneh
John Mitchell
Tanae Molden
Trinisia Reese
Terrell Saddler
Christopher Shade
