Texarkana Elementary Students Use 3D Printing to Change Lives Across the Globe

Here's some great news from Texarkana ISD with an update on the students at Martha and Josh Morriss Mathematics & Engineering Elementary on how they are making a difference for people with their 3D Printing.

Earlier this month, we found out about a grant that the school received, a Sparklight grant to help continue a project where students are receiving hands-on STEM experience while helping others as they create prosthetic limbs.

The project led by Nicole Ayers, the Robotics and Technology teacher at Morriss, has worked hard to receive grants, including a grant from the Texarkana ISD Education Foundation. That grant helped to buy two 3D printers, a 3D scanner and a computer. With these new tools, Ayers joined Enabling the Future, which is an international group that creates and donates prosthetic hands and arms. Then, through the e-Nable forum, they were connected with the Uganda Enable Coalition.

This is a group effort with the 4th and 5th graders finishing their first prosthetic device and now they are helping train the 3rd graders with the help of teachers Tara Droske, Taylor Peavey and Mindy Spigner. Their goal is to print and build 16 prosthetic limbs as part of their biomedical and manufacturing engineering lessons.

Ayers said in a press release,

This project is more than just a learning experience—it’s a way for our students to contribute to a global cause and see firsthand how technology can change lives.

We can watch these projects come to life on their live stream here!