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Students Learn 3-D Printing at Lancaster Middle School

There are only two limits a teacher says exist in 3-D printing: the size of the built plates and the children's imagination.

Students at a Lancaster middle school are one step closer to opening a 3-D printing lab thanks to the help of their community.

In one week, the community donated seven 3-D printers for the classroom of Matt Anderson, a Joe Walker Middle School teacher.

"Our goal is to get over 30 (printers) so we can hit our population of 900 plus students," Anderson  said.

He will use the printers to teach students about prototyping and the manufacturing process, he said.

A special night for community members or weekend classes for parents to learn about the technology is planned if the lab materializes, Anderson said.

"The learning curve for this for the students is a lot less than the learning curve for the adults," he said. "Now, I'm learning from them."

In fact, four students attended a conference in Sacramento where they taught teachers how to use the 3-D printers, he said.

There are only two limits Anderson said exist in 3-D printing: the size of the built plates and the children's imagination.

"We're limited just to the kids imagination and what they can build," he said.

Anderson and his students plan to print objects to donate to local retirement homes and veterans homes to be used around their houses, he said.

Joe Walker Middle School student Nassim Tavakoli said it's cool to walk into the classroom and see 3-D printing.

"When I first started I thought 3-D printing was one of those things you could only do when you get to university or college," Tavakoli said. "So, when I heard of the program I knew I had to join."

Everyone should do 3-D printing, she said.

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