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.
What began with a group of eight graduates at Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy a year ago has grown to include three programs and three dozen students who will receive 34.5 hours of instruction in 3D design and printing.
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.
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.
If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to support the 3D ThinkLink Initiative, click here to donate or contact us at info@youthquestfoundation.org or (703) 234-4633.