The Dallas Independent School District is using the latest printing technology to get students interested in science, technology, engineering and math – otherwise known as STEM.
Students in the Gateway to Technology class at Zan Holmes Middle School have access to a 3D printer. Using professional-grade software they've designed and printed a number of three-dimensional items. Exposing the students to the technology has peaked their interest in STEM fields.
"I've never been in a program like this before, so I'm really happy I started," said Tiara Houston, an eighth-grader who wants to be a professional engineer.
The students are using equipment that even some college students do not have access to. Their teacher, Brian Turner, believes getting the students, most of which are African-American and Hispanic, interested at a young age will help increase the number of minorities and women in STEM fields.
"These kids get to see this type of technology and…it grasps their attention," said Turner. "Once you've got their attention you've really got them hooked."
According to the Department of Education minorities make up approximately 11 percent of engineering graduates nationally. Women make up only 12 percent. Students like seventh-grader Yarazet Zaragoza are very much aware of those statistics. She hopes to change them.
"We're aware that there's not a lot of females (in STEM fields), but females are able to do it," she said, her classmates pouring over a computer screen behind her. "We're just a group of females hoping to grow up and be what we want to be."
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Some of the students will eventually feed into the STEM program at Kimball High School. Turner said the students that have already come through the program are performing well academically.
"When kids have come to me and taken my program they go off and they excel," he said. "I grab their interest and they just turn into engineering freaks."
In addition to technical skills, the students also learn job skills. Houston believes she's learning what it means to be professional, and at her age she's got a head start on her engineering career.
"This class has helped me get there, and hopefully I will be able to maintain that to a successful engineering career," she said.
