Thanks to the tenacity and vision of teacher Kevin Carini, Eastern Mennonite School has received its third grant to continue to build its maker space and robotics program. The newest grant comes from the GE Additive Education Program, “a global STEM initiative to build an ecosystem for 3D printing in education by networking students, machines and content via the Polar Cloud.”

The grant is part of the program’s third year “class.” EMS was one of 1,224 schools out of 3,487 applicants from 48 countries to be invited to join the program. As part of the grant, the school receives a premium Polar Cloud account to log into for resources, a Monoprice Voxel 3D printer, and curriculum/lesson plans from STEAMtrax and Tinkercad.

The award is made possible by GE Additive, the program’s founding sponsor. GE Additive has made a $10 million commitment over five years to provide educational institutions access to 3D printers and develop future talent in additive manufacturing.

Carini will take part in online training later this summer to become familiar with the materials. Students will have access beginning in the new school year. Students will have access to the Polar Cloud with machines, materials and curricula to allow them to explore, create and transform digital models into physical objects.

In addition, EMS students will be able to showcase and sell their projects with 100% of any proceeds going to the school. The system will provide a dashboard for viewing data on student engagement, designs, prints and other key performance indicators.

“This program also offers contests and challenges,” notes Carini. “I’m excited for the possibilities of working in a collaborative environment.”

Pictured are robotics EMS students at a mid-May 2019 field trip to a James Madison University robotics lab.