Early graduate Logan Feuss may be done with high school now, but he’s one student FCS teacher Mrs. Barnes will likely always remember. Thanks to Logan, what was once an irreplaceable keepsake for Mrs. Barnes and her family, is now something they can cherish without worry.
After unexpectedly losing their infant daughter, CeCe, in June, the Barnes family had plaster sculptures made of her hand and foot. While holding these sculptures gives them comfort, Mrs. Barnes was afraid of them breaking, especially when her young children asked to hold them.
She approached Virtual Reality Education Pathfinder* (VREP) teacher, Mr. Mercado, to see if his students could create replicas using a 3D printer. While Mr. Mercado’s students have done several projects using a 3D printer, this request presented a unique challenge. VREP students had only used digital images to print 3D objects before. This time they would have to take a 3D object and create a digital file before being able to print it in 3D form.
Logan was the first student to step up and take on this challenge. After some researching, acquiring a new 3D scanner, setting it up, and learning new software, Logan was able to create incredibly detailed, plastic replicas of the sculptures.
“The whole idea behind this was, ‘what if something happened to the sculpture?’” Logan said. “Well, even though I’m graduating she’ll still have the files on her computer. So, let’s say anything happens, she can give it to another student and another student would be able to help her.”
The project took him several weeks to complete and around 17 hours just to print the sculptures, but it was worth it according to Logan.
“I knew how much this meant to Mrs. Barnes,” Logan said. “I’m just glad that I was able to do it for them.”
This isn’t the first time Mr. Mercado’s students have used 3D printing to help others. In the past they have created blocks with words on them to help a non-verbal student communicate, and they created a device to help a student who struggled to hold a milk carton. Now the VREP class is excited to see what else they will be able to accomplish with the new 3D scanner.
