When it comes to printing, many of us might just think, color or black and white? But for students in Jeff Bailey’s class at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, printing takes on a life of its own— they’re doing it in 3-D. “Besides visualizing on a computer you can create something and see it in the real world to get a prototype out of things you can make. It can be used for ideas and just for fun too,” said Sophomore Jacob Sinclair. Jacob designed a Darth Vader model in the computer program Sketch Up (see page 13 for more) and then made that design come alive with the 3-D printer. The printer uses plastic, instead of ink, to create the models built in various computer programs. For Bailey’s students, living in a town where the paper mill is the primary employer, 3-D printing is opening new doors. “I want kids to be creative. 3-D printing gets them to think visually and critically and helps them to become more successful with an area of their intelligence they don’t normally use in schools. This is an area that a lot of kids don’t know they excel in until they try it,” said Bailey. The new hands-on tools in Bailey’s class are helping to reimagine what “shop class” used to be years ago, giving students the STEM learning experience they can then use to explore careers in science, technology and engineering. Bailey believes in helping shape a “maker mindset” where students can literally make something from nothing. “For some kids they’ll become architects or machinists but for other kids there is an awareness that this exists. I always remind them that everything they buy—someone designed it,” said Bailey. With the 3-D printer, students are only limited by their imaginations, creating everything from ping pong paddles, to chess pieces, to chair models to car parts. “My car had a missing piece from the air vent so I took it from my car and designed a new one and printed it. I’ve always been interested in science and space, so this has pushed my curiosity,” said Senior Alex Ridley. Bailey, who used to teach English, also manages to weave in language arts lessons as well into his engineering classes. A recent project asked students to redesign the school cafeteria, which required kids to interview and study what students wanted. The process of making
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Maine Educator • April 2016
