student with 3D printer

Each year, the Powhatan Education Foundation (PEF) awards Innovative Classroom Grants that present ideas for achieving the countyโ€™s curricular goals, enhancing studentsโ€™ personal development, and/or encouraging links with the community. This year, PEF fully or partially funded six grants for a total investment of $16,146.28, and we have been highlighting how those projects are going.

Next up is a grant that purchased an upgraded 3D printer for the engineering classroom, which was submitted by Marcellus Beasley, Cody Seibel, and Elaina Buczkowski. With its increased speed, more students division-wide can use this upgraded 3D printer. With the higher quality and ability to print with a wider range of filament types, students in grades 4-12 will build better parts for their projects with the capability to create, print, and revise their designs as quickly as a single class period (PHS) or a single day in summer camp. Shown here, a student talks about using the 3D printer (in the back) to print parts for SPEAR Robotics Clubโ€™s competition robot.