3-D printer unlocks student creativity at Indian Hill Middle School

Students at Indian Hill Middle School are realizing their passions in new ways thanks to an increased emphasis on learning by creating.  It started, gifted intervention specialist Kim Given said, with the donation of a 3-D printer. Students were enamored with the new technology to which they suddenly had access, and many wanted to use it to complete small projects or create tools for people with disabilities. For example, 3-D printing potentially provides users with a fast new way of creating readable Braille text for the blind. "I've been fascinated by stories of people using 3-D printers to help others by making (prosthetic) arms and stuff," eighth grader Nikhil Nayak said. "I think that helping people is very important because some people don't have some limbs." The Indian Hill Middle School Maker Space now contains the 3-D printer as well as a sewing machine, which Given said is so popular students usually have to wait in order to use it. The school hopes to alleviate that wait by investing in additional equipment soon, including a second 3-D printer. "In middle school, sometimes is when we see interest in school start to decline," Given said. "I would say the STEM and Maker Space programs have really helped to reinvigorate students in school to be excited to come."