STEAM at New Hope HS
Earlier in 2023, the New Hope-Solebury School District held its first-ever STEAM Expo, highlighting the impressive features of its recently completed STEAM Wing. The event provided an opportunity for students to engage in hands-on learning experiences using professional-grade technologies, including the newest CNC router edition from Techno CNC. The STEAM Wing, which opened in February 2023, boasts a range of cutting-edge facilities, including a robotics arena, media production studio, high-speed computer lab, engineering makerspace, and manufacturing lab. STEAM at New Hope HS.
“We are incredibly excited about this new space and all of the potential it holds for our students. The kind of learning we can facilitate in this space will help students develop essential skills for their future: how to create, question, collaborate, and problem-solve effectively,” said Amanda Benolken, New Hope-Solebury School District director of education. Superintendent Dr. Charles Lentz expressed pride in the team’s dedication and energy in bringing the vision to life. He emphasized the importance of innovation and real-world experiences in preparing students for future success, noting that the new space exemplifies the district’s commitment to those principles.
We recently got the pleasure of interviewing Richard Curtis of New Hope HS, the K-12 Steam Coordinator. Students have just started tapping into the potential of the CNC machine after owning it for two years, but they are still scratching the surface. Before the CNC, they were focusing on old school industrial arts, but with the Techno router, the district has now unlocked amazing opportunities for student growth and learning, explained Curtis.
“We are an innovation space, somewhere we can think big, and build even bigger. Students from Engineering, Wood Manufacturing, and Robotics all use the Techno CNC machine. Students are consistently using the machine for different projects.”
Equiping for Skills
“We recently made all backlight signing for rooms, a life size LiteBrite board, an arcade claw machine, clock faces, custom aluminum parts for robots and more. Students set up and ran an automated fixtures unit for clock faces to be intricately cut in the wood manufacturing class. Giving the students the ability to design something and then bring it to life at a grand scale is so inspiring for them. We are equipping them with the skill that is marketable, and unlocking passions they never knew they had.”
“The LiteBrite project at New Hope High School required over 600 precision fit holes for pegs. The CNC router cut the 600 holes easily and quickly. As a result, the elementary sensory wall now has an amazing 6 foot by 4 foot life size LiteBrite. A student also cut out an arcade cabinet and wrapped it in color vinyl.
“We have seamlessly integrated our Techno Atlas Series CNC machine into many projects. We do an old-school clock build in the our wood manufacturing course, but we have now automated some of the build with pieces that need to be precision cut. It has been an amazing upgrade for our school. Students haven’t been just given the keys and let loose on the machine. There is so much to learn in just the year and half we have had it. In the future as our younger students get more hours on the machine, I see this much more approachable to allow them free reign.”
“I have been very impressed how the students suggest using the machine for certain tasks, its inspiring to see them think big”.
The Budget for New Hope High School
New Hope HS currently has Techno CNC’s Atlas Series CNC router. Originally, the school budget was for wall signs and they were considering a base model CNC router. Curtis knew that he could make his own wall signs, if they were granted the budget for an industrial CNC machine. He knew he had the responsibility to help the students in the long run. “Invest in your students first, always” is a phrase Curtis lives by.
Our Atlas Series is all steel construction providing the rigid foundation required for ultra-smooth routing results. The Atlas machine includes a 4HP HSD collet spindle and includes a dust hood that concentrates air flow at the cutter which provides optimal dust collection performance. The multi-zone high flow vacuum t-slot table is constructed from very hard Phenolic which is a very stable material and holds tight tolerances for precision cutting. The machine drive motors are Nema 34 powerful high speed stepper motors, thus providing the power to route any wood, plastic, foam, or non-ferrous metal. The controller is a stand-alone handheld controller. The buttons on the controller are all pre-programmed to perform certain machine instruction, thus making machine operations easy to learn and use. No other machine on the market includes all of these features and capabilities.
CNC Machines for Schools
“We love our Techno CNC machine. Once it clicks and you learn the machine, you can create anything you want in an ounce of the time that it normally would take. I loved our training. I love Techno’s customer service, as well. You call – they answer! Someone should make shirts with that saying because they answer all my questions whenever they come up. Sometimes, I’ll be with a group of students, can’t answer a question, and throw Techno on speaker phone –it’s an instant answer. That’s so rare and appreciated in the fast paced world of teaching. We couldn’t be happier with the team of knowledgeable friends over at Techno. They care about their customers, make you feel like family, and there’s not enough companies in this world who you can say that about”.
Source: STEAM at New Hope HS
https://newhopehighschool.mcssk12.org/
https://www.techedmagazine.com/category/news-by-industry/stem/