3D Design and Printing Incorporated in Backpack Buddies by Katie Taylor

During trimester one, all 106 of Cary Academy’s sixth graders were trained in the basic use of TinkerCAD, a free online computer assisted design program. For their first design, students created flat-backed flowers, smiley faces, and frogs which were printed using our 3D printers. Creating and printing these designs wasn’t just about learning CAD, however. We created these prints as gifts to include with our bags for Backpack Buddies, our service learning program. We attached each print to a magnet and added a card that says, “3D Printed With Love by Your Friends at Cary Academy.” Now our elementary school friends who receive a Backpack Buddies bag will also receive a 3D printed magnet.

Students from the Tinker, Code and Create Club co-facilitated the training with Leslie Williams, Kimberly Shaw and Andrew Chiaraviglio, Instructional Technology Facilitators.