Elementary school students in the area can learn in three dimensions.
School District 69 received three 3-D printers last week that will be used for various class projects and coursework at Springwood, Oceanside and Qualicum Beach elementary schools.
Dave Fraser, SD69 teacher, said the new provincial curriculum has a section on applied design and said working with 3-D printers “marries perfectly” with that.
“The province is putting a lot of emphasis on coding these days; there’s been a real push on that and this is a huge part of it…” said Fraser. “(Students)run through all the programs and they actually come out with something tangible.”
Fraser won’t be teaching 3-D printing, but will work with students in assembling the printers.
“I get them in kit form, because that cuts the price by about a third and I can show the kids how they’re put together that way, too,” he said.
Supporting the project were the Rotary Parksville Noon Club and Rotary Parksville A.M., who contributed more than $1,300. The donation follows on money the clubs provided last year for robotics kits.
Fraser expressed “huge” gratitude to the Rotary clubs.
“They’re such a resource,” he said. “I don’t think these things could have happened, like at the one school, having the robots last year, that was a huge cost and now the printers. Those things don’t just show up.”