PHILLIPS Programs – The YouthQuest Foundation

The YouthQuest Foundation Year in Review: 2019

December 27, 2019 stevep Promo

3D ThinkLink teachers from Freestate, Capital Guardian and South Carolina Youth ChalleNGE Academies with YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks

Teachers are at the heart of our mission to change the lives of at-risk youth. That’s why, as we roll the closing credits for 2019, our 3D ThinkLink instructors top the list of people who played starring roles for the YouthQuest Foundation this year.

Thanks to the teachers we trained at National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs serving Maryland, South Carolina and the District of Columbia, 57 more cadets completed our 3D ThinkLink class this year. That brings the total number of Youth ChalleNGe cadets we’ve reached to more than 300 since 2013, when we began using 3D printing as a vehicle to teach underserved teens job skills and life skills.

Jamarr Dennis, Demyound Wright and Germaine Rasberry at 3D ThinkLink Teacher Training in February 2019 — *Teacher Training, February 2019*

This year’s instructors were: Germaine Rasberry and Demyond Wright from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy; Jamarr Dennis and Aaron Ancrum from Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy; Keith Hammond and La-Toya Hamilton from DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy.

In addition to carrying out many other responsibilities at their schools, these teachers devoted time to conduct classes and print students’ projects, organize 3D-printing community service projects, and transport their cadets to Vocational Orientation field trips. They also traveled to our lab in Chantilly Virginia, in February and September to sharpen their skills at teacher training sessions. In June and November, they returned with top students selected for Advanced Training, which provided hands-on learning experiences to prepare the cadets for continued education and careers in 3D printing.

PHILLIPS Schools

As with the ChalleNGe programs, workforce development became a new priority this year in our partnership with the PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families.

The PHILLIPS teachers we trained have used their 3D ThinkLink skills to tailor our curriculum for their students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These students often have great attention to detail, deep focus, tenacity, pattern recognition and outside-the-box thinking skills that help them excel at 3D design and printing.

YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks is working closely with Sam Son, who oversees the 3D classes at PHILLIPS, to identify employment opportunities for young people with ASD.

PHILLIPS student Ladrious Eaton works with YouthQuest's powder/binder 3D printer — *PHILLIPS student Ladrious works on the iTech project*

A highlight of the year was a project Tom organized to demonstrate how we can help teens on the autism spectrum develop skills to become independent, successful adults.

PHILLIPS teachers Jim Field and Joseph Phillips brought Henry, Ladrious and John, students from the Annandale and Fairfax, Virginia, campuses, to our lab in June to be part of a unique cross-country collaboration with kids at a STEM-focused magnet school in Vancouver, Washington.

Award-winning teacher John Zingale’s 7^th and 8^th graders at iTech Preparatory did 3D scanning of 19^th-century artifacts from the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site to create an interactive virtual museum. But they had no way to make realistic, full-color replicas of the scanned artifacts that could be handled and studied without fear of damaging the originals. Tom arranged to have the PHILLIPS students use one of the powder/binder 3D printers in YouthQuest’s lab to create the reproductions for iTech.

Over the course of three days, Henry, Ladrious and John mastered every step of the process: taking in the 3D image files; preparing the files in the printing software; setting up and operating the printer; post-processing the printed objects; and packaging them for shipping to Vancouver.

Henry, John and Ladrious with box of 3D printed artifact replicas to ship to Vancouver iTech Prep — *Henry, John and Ladrious*

It was especially gratifying to have Henry involved in the iTech project. He was in our first 3D class at the PHILLIPS School in Annandale and attended a week of advanced training in our lab in 2017. Henry, who says he wants to be “a tech guru,” graduated from PHILLIPS in June.

The Mighty, a website that connects and empowers millions of people facing disabilities and health challenges, featured this article about the difference our program has made in Henry’s life.

The iTech project came full-circle when “Mr. Z” and some of his students visited our lab while they were in the DC area for the National History Day Contest. PHILLIPS Career Partners Director Lindsay Harris was there to let the students from Vancouver know how much the team from her school appreciated working with them.

Volunteers, Partners and Sponsors

In keeping with this year’s focus on teachers, it’s fitting that our Volunteer of the Year is a teacher.

2019 Volunteer of the Year Chris Adams with YouthQuest Foundation Co-Founders Allen Cage and Lynda Mann at VIP Reception August 1, 2019 — *Volunteer of the Year Chris Adams*

YouthQuest Co-Founders Lynda Mann and Allen Cage presented the award to Chris Adams, a Technology Education teacher at Franklin Middle School in Chantilly at our annual VIP Reception in August. Chris has been sharing his expertise with us for several years. This year, he facilitated the donation of two Z310 powder/binder 3D printers from Fairfax County Public Schools, our 2019 Community Partner Award winner. The professional-grade printers are vital to our job-training initiative.

Our 2019 Strategic Partner Award went to University of Maryland Terrapin Works in appreciation for hosting Vocational Orientation tours of the school’s 3D printing facilities and department of mechanical engineering for Capital Guardian cadets twice a year.

Harford Community College continues to be a valuable resource for our Freestate cadets, as David Antol provides tours of the school’s 3D printing lab. During a Vocational Orientation event in October, they got to meet Maxwell Herzing, a 2018 Freestate graduate who’s now one of Prof. Antol’s Engineering Technology students. Maxwell’s message to the cadets about the importance of doing something you love and not being afraid to make mistakes was right on the mark.

South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy cadet Ka’Dejah Riley with other 3D ThinkLink students at Vocational Orientation at University of North Carolina-Charlotte 3D printing lab — *Vocational Orientation at UNCC*

Dr. Jeff Raquet at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte Department of Mechanical Engineering and the 3D printing team at Duncan-Parnell in Charlotte provided valuable Vocational Orientation experiences for our 3D ThinkLink classes from South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy.

All the success we’ve enjoyed this year would not be possible without the financial support of our sponsors. We were pleased to welcome DFS Construction Corporation and DCG Dominion Construction Group as first-time sponsors of our annual golf tournament in August, along with returning sponsors AOC Solutions, FEDAC, the Poole Foundation, the POH Group, Kipps DeSanto, Insperity, Gombos-Leyton, Jones Lang LaSalle, Old Dominion National Bank, CrossFit PR Star and Valley Forge Acquisition Corp.

2019 YouthQuest golf tournament volunteers at Trump National Golf Club Aug. 5. 2019 — *Golf tournament volunteers*

We’re also grateful to our golf tournament volunteers — Linda Ackerman, Emily Blake, Rachel Cage, Edna Davis, Nikki Gombos, Rob Hall, Val Hightower, Steve Levenson, Ingrid Louro and Tony Sanderson – along with the entire team at Trump National Golf Club, Washington DC.

Because of the contributions everyone has made to our mission this year, we’ve been able to help at-risk teens break the cycle of failure and get on course for success.

Three of this year’s students from SCYCA earned $1,000 scholarships for essays they wrote about what their 3D ThinkLink experience taught them.

“I believe that anybody and everybody can accomplish their goals in life. Why? Life is full lessons and blessings. That’s why I haven’t given up.” – Naomi Perez

“I want to show everyone at home and everyone who has ever doubted me I’m more than just the average teenager. I’m going to make something out of myself and I’m not going to go back to my old ways.” – Ka’Dejah Riley

“I can do anything … nothing is beyond my reach.” – Hunter Lusby

The Year in Photos

YouthQuest Charity Golf tourney, Trump National Golf Course, Sterling, VA, on Monday, August 5, 2019.

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Unique Cross-Country Partnership Brings History Alive in 3D

June 7, 2019 stevep News, Promo

ITech Prep Phillips YouthQuest partnership

The YouthQuest Foundation has brought together an unlikely team of young 3D innovators for a first-of-its-kind coast-to-coast collaboration.

Last year, John Zingale’s 7^th and 8^th graders at iTech Preparatory, a project-based-learning and STEM-focused magnet school in Vancouver, Washington created an interactive virtual museum with 3D images of artifacts they scanned at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Now, three high school students on the autism spectrum from the PHILLIPS schools in Northern Virginia have used those scans to 3D-print full-color replicas of the artifacts and send them to the kids in Vancouver.

“When I read about Fort Vancouver Virtual Reality, I saw an opportunity to teach some of the PHILLIPS students we work with how to operate a professional-level 3D printer while, at the same time, adding a new level of learning for the iTech students,” said YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks.

He contacted “Mr. Z” to discuss their mutual interest in using 3D visualization technology to bring history to life. The iTech students had accomplished a great deal by capturing images of the objects from the 1800s and sharing them on Sketchfab, a popular online platform for 3D content. What they lacked was a way to make realistic replicas of the artifacts.

YouthQuest not only had a powder/binder 3D printer capable of reproducing scanned objects in full color, it had experience in teaching students to complete such a project. Advanced 3D ThinkLink students from National Guard Youth ChalleNGe programs worked in the foundation’s lab last year to scan a 2,300-year-old Apulian vase and 3D-print copies that can be handled and studied without fear of damaging the original artifact.

Meeks and Zingale agreed on a plan, and a cross-country partnership was born.

Project-Based Job Skills Training

Since 2013, YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Initiative has been using 3D printing as a vehicle to teach important life skills that at-risk youth lack, such as critical thinking, problem solving, persistence and confidence. Originally designed for high school dropouts seeking a second chance at Youth ChalleNGe academies serving Maryland, South Carolina and the District of Columbia, the project expanded in recent years to include teens with neurodiversity at schools operated by the PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families in Annandale and Fairfax, Virginia.

Some of the plates scanned by Mr. Z's class and printed by PHILLIPS students — *Some of the plates scanned by Mr. Z’s class and printed by PHILLIPS students*

Common characteristics of people on the autism spectrum — attention to detail, deep focus, visual learning, tenacity, pattern recognition, outside-the-box thinking — help them excel at 3D design and printing. The students were highly engaged throughout the project. Turning the virtual artifacts from Fort Vancouver into tangible replicas demonstrated that operating and working in a 3D printing business is a viable career pathway for those on the autism spectrum.

Job training is a priority for PHILLIPS and YouthQuest because young adults with neurodiversity face more barriers to employment after high school than those with other kinds of learning disorders. Despite having the skills and desire to work, nearly half of 25-year-olds on the autism spectrum have never been employed, according to Autism Speaks.

PHILLIPS assigned three students from its 3D classes to the iTech project. John and Ladrious came from the Fairfax campus. Representing the Annandale campus was Henry, who completed a week of advanced training in YouthQuest’s lab in 2016 and is about to graduate from PHILLIPS.

3D ThinkLink students from the PHILLIPS Schools wrap up the 3D-printed artifact models to be shipped to the iTech Preparatory students in Washington who 3D scanned the objects from the Fort Vancouver National Histortic Site. — *PHILLIPS students wrap the printed pieces to ship to Vancouver*

Over the course of three days in the lab, the team mastered every step of the process: taking in the 3D image files; preparing them in the printing software; setting up and operating the powder printer; post-processing the printed objects; and packaging them for shipping to Vancouver.

Everyone took turns so each student got to do every task. Although Henry had not met John and Ladrious before, they all worked together well as they figured out strategies to accomplish their goals.

For young adults on the autism spectrum, developing communication and social skills is often more difficult than gaining technical skills. PHILLIPS Career Partners Program Director Lindsay Harris said she was amazed to see how easily the students were interacting when she visited the lab.

New Dimensions of Learning

Fort Vancouver Virtual Reality has already earned lots of attention for the iTech students and a Governor’s Award for their teacher. Zingale said adding YouthQuest and the PHILLIPS students to the mix is bringing a new dimension to the project that he “never even dreamed possible when we started.”

Zingale’s students began by creating an interactive virtual tour of Fort Vancouver in 2016, then started looking into ways of adding augmented reality to the experience. That led to experiments with various kinds of 3D scanning equipment and methods to capture images for the virtual museum.

YouthQuest has gone through the same process with scanning projects for its advanced 3D ThinkLink students. Both groups got the best results with photogrammetry, a process of taking pictures of an object from multiple angles and using software to combine the images into a 3D model. YouthQuest uses 3DF Zephyr while iTech tried several different types before deciding to go with Qlone photogrammetry software.

VIDEO: Meet the iTech Students — **VIDEO:** *Meet the iTech Students*

Making 3D prints of the scanned Fort Vancouver artifacts revealed some details that weren’t apparent from seeing them in only two dimensions on a computer screen. For example, the PHILLIPS team found that light reflected off white areas of certain plates showed up as natural-looking glare in the photos, but the 3D software interpreted the spots as objects. They showed up as large, white lumps on the printed plates.

Zingale told YouthQuest his students think it’s “extremely cool that others appreciated their work” and they want to continue improving their photogrammetry techniques with the knowledge they’re gaining from the new partnership with YouthQuest and PHILLIPS.

“From creating an interactive VR tour, to scanning artifacts and creating an online museum, to creating and designing mobile apps, to now holding color 3D printed replicas this is a journey like no other,” he wrote on Facebook. “I can’t wait to see where we go with this project this next year!”

PHILLIPS student John had a message for Mr. Z’s students in Vancouver: “If it hadn’t been for you guys, we wouldn’t have this opportunity. And for that, I am very grateful.”

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YouthQuest’s Five Favorite Memories of 2018

December 20, 2018 stevep Blog

3D ThinkLink students from Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy at University of Maryland Terrapin Works April 2018 Vocational Orientation

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We thank our supporters for making these moments possible through their contributions.
You can support our work by:
Making a donation through our secure PayPal link
Choosing us as your designated charity on AmazonSmile
Registering on Bidding for Good so you can take part in our online auctions, sign up for our golf tournament, and support other upcoming fundraisers
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As we wrap up an eventful year filled with accomplishments, here’s a look back at the YouthQuest Foundation’s most memorable moments.

Success for More At-Risk Teens

Sixty-five cadets from National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Programs completed our 3D ThinkLink training this year. We taught these at-risk youth to think differently about failure and success as they prepare to enter the job market or pursue higher education.

3D ThinkLink students from Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy receive awards December 2018 — *Click picture to see more photos*

Our classes help students develop sought-after STEM skills through hands-on experience with professional-level CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software, 3D printers and computers. In addition, the trial-and-error nature of 3D printing teaches our students about critical thinking, problem-solving, perseverance, resilience, creativity and collaboration. These “soft skills” are even more valuable to employers than the technical skills.

3D ThinkLink training takes place during the two annual class cycles at Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy, South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy and the District of Columbia’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy. Instructors from the schools come to our lab in Chantilly, Virginia, twice a year to update their skills and help us constantly improve the 3D ThinkLink experience.

Nearly 300 ChalleNGe cadets have completed 3D ThinkLink training since we launched the project in 2013. We have reached many more young people through our partnerships with the PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families at schools in Fairfax and Annandale, Virginia, for students with autism and other special needs; and with Horizons Hampton Roads, serving low-income children in Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.

This year, we rewarded 13 cadets for their outstanding performance in class by bringing them to our lab for a week of advanced training. Seven students earned scholarships for the essays they wrote about the impact the 3D ThinkLink experience had on their lives. The 2018 essay competition winners are: Caleb Pearson ($1,000) from SCYCA; Chigaru Todd ($1,000) and Jacob Foote ($500) from CGYCA; Sthephanie Alvarez-Vega ($1,000), Bradley Berry, Trevor Haney and Dante Isom ($500) from Freestate.

A Chance Encounter, a Lightbulb Moment

We put a lot of planning into Vocational Orientation to make sure our students get the most out of the events, which show them how 3D printing is used at businesses and universities. But sometimes the best parts of these field trips are unscripted. Freestate Instructor Jamarr Dennis recalled the moment during a Vocational Orientation tour of The Foundery in Baltimore that “the lightbulb went on” for Cadet Sthephanie Alvarez-Vega when she struck up a conversation with craftsman/entrepreneur Festus Jones.

Vocational Orientation and Inspiration

Like Sthephanie, South Carolina Youth ChalleNGe Academy Cadet Caleb Pearson attended Immersion Lab training and earned a scholarship in the essay contest. And like her, Caleb was unexpectedly inspired by someone he met during Vocational Orientation. Nathan Lambert, a top graduate student, helped guide the SCYCA group through the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Mechanical Engineering Department in October. Toward the end of the tour, Nathan told the cadets that he’d hated high school and barely graduated, but after serving in the military, he discovered his passion for engineering and learned to excel in college. “It made me feel really confident,” said Caleb, an aspiring engineer who once struggled in school. “If this man has made it this far in his life … and I want to be exactly where he is, I can do it.”

Stepping Up With Loudoun Youth

The YouthQuest Foundation has been the prize money sponsor for the Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition every year since 2012. The contest, run by Loudoun Youth, Inc. and Loudoun County Parks, Recreation and Community Services, challenges teams of teens in Loudoun County, Virginia, to identify problems in their communities, then develop and implement solutions.

We have been so impressed by Step Up’s results that we doubled our contribution to $5,000 this year. YouthQuest Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann made the announcement at the preliminary round of competition for more than 60 teams on April 5.

This year’s winning team, Princess Packages, started a volunteer organization to lift the spirits of young girls who suffer from sadness and isolation during long hospital stays. Other top-10 team projects included a tutoring and mentoring program for elementary school students, a chatbot app to help immigrants to improve their English language skills and study for the U.S. citizenship exam, and a networking service to connect teens with employment and volunteer opportunities.

Teams for next year’s Step Up contest have already formed and we can’t wait to see what projects they create in the spring.

Recognition for Innovation

YouthQuest Operations Manager Juan Louro, President Lynda Mann and Communications Director Steve Pendlebury send Drucker Prize semifinal round submission — *Operations Manager Juan Louro, President Lynda Mann and Communications Director Steve Pendlebury send Drucker Prize semifinal submission form*

We are honored to have been chosen as one of the 50 semifinalists for this year’s Drucker Prize, a $100,000 award for innovation by nonprofit organizations.

Our presentation about the 3D ThinkLink Initiative was selected from among more than 500 entries nationwide for the prize, which recognizes nonprofits that best exemplify business management legend Peter Drucker’s definition of innovation: “Change that creates a new dimension of performance.”

This was our third year competing for the Drucker Prize and each time, we get a little farther. We look forward to entering the contest again in 2019.

These excerpts from our Drucker Prize presentation sum up the principles that will continue to drive our organization in the year ahead.

The YouthQuest Foundation exists to help America’s at-risk youth become successful adults by changing the way they think about their past failures and providing opportunities for them to fulfill their potential through education and life-changing experiences.

The at-risk youth we serve – minorities, kids with disabilities and those from low-income families – make up a disproportionate share of America’s dropouts. They’re on a path that leads to poverty and even prison.

The kids we serve once saw themselves as failures. We help change their perception of failure, and of themselves, by offering an innovative way to get them on course to a better life.