To help students develop a better sense of mechanical and architectural design, St. Timothy School in Cochrane plans to use a $14,000 grant to update their computer systems for students.
Jason Guenther, a career technology studies (CTS) teacher at the local Catholic school, has been teaching at St. Tim’s for three years. Originally from Saskatchewan, he brought his knowledge and experience teaching engineering programs to Cochrane, where he has spent the last three years developing the school’s new 3D design program.
“A few years ago, the [Calgary Catholic School District] was putting these enclosures for 3D printers so we could ventilate it to the outside, and administration asked if I could use 3D printers,” Guenther said. “Yes, I had experience with it, and so we purchased a few 3D printers, and so it was a matter of getting the computers and programs in place to start bringing the kids into the understanding of the design cycle.”
Prior to the introduction of 3D printers, the school only offered traditional CTS programs like construction and welding, but lacked some more design-based programs. Guenther wanted to help bridge the gap for students who wanted to improve their designing skills.
“The trend right now is to go toward what was STEM, but now they added a new abbreviation to that, which is STEAM,” Guenther said. “It’s science, technology, engineering, arts, and math.
“So, I wanted to bring the artistic side into the engineering side when it comes to designing, so the kids can explore their talents in those areas.”
This past December, Guenther submitted a grant application to the Totem Charitable Foundation. One goal of receiving the grant was to update the computers to help students render 3D models faster and more effectively.
“We put forth the grant – it was for $14,000 – and that was also for a couple of new welders, and we also want to implement a recycling program for this as well,” Guenther said. “When we do our three-dimensional prints, they produce quite a bit of waste from support materials, rafts, or the prints don’t work out, and that gets thrown into the garbage because it is not recyclable through regular streams.”
To cut down on printing waste, Guenther said the school plans to purchase a filament extruder and a grinding machine to re-use filament for 3D printing.
With three 3D printers, Guenther said it allows students to create pretty much anything they want. To introduce students in Grade 8 to 3D printing, he asks them to create unique objects.
The following year, the students build on this skill in Grade 9 by printing and assembling objects with moving parts.
“In high school, we go more technical,” Guenther said. “How to produce engineering drawings, how to make more complicated engineering assemblies, and stuff like that.”
From mechanical to architectural-based forms of design education, Guenther said this gives students the chance to explore and find what may interest them. Thanks to the new grant, Guenther said students look forward to seeing the upgrades.
“They’ll be thrilled when they can log on and get into the system right away, and the performance and such is going to be so much better,” Guenther said.
Three years after the 3D printing program started, Guenther said interest among students to better understand the technology they’re working with beyond the surface level is growing quickly.
“We always think that because they have phones and they are able to access social media that they are good with technology,” Guenther said. “That doesn’t mean they understand how to run the technology. They understand how to use it, [but] it’s more of a user-based application rather than a creator-based application.
“We want to teach them to be creators and not always users of the technologies they control.”
Guenther, alongside all the faculty and students at St. Tim’s, said they are grateful for the grant from the Totem Charitable Foundation.
“We are very gracious for what they provided,” he said. “And for getting the whole grant, I’m a little shocked and very happy.”
