Best Buy awards GCSC grant to continue operations of local 3D printer clubs

Two 3-d printer clubs received a $5,000 grant from Best Buy to fund students who are eager to design, create, and problem-solve.
 
Corryville Catholic Elementary School students like Aleia Samuels from Avondale, for example, will gain exposure to technology.
 
“I’d never done anything like this before,” Samuels said. “Now I see so many possibilities and how to use technology in different ways.” Samuels’ favorite creation to-date is an egg-rabbit-chicken keychain.
 
According to Brian Stevens of Best Buy, the Best Buy Community Grant initiative provides teens with places and opportunities to develop 21st century technology skills to inspire their educational and career choices.  
 
“In a nutshell, the clubs are teens and technology,” Stevens said. “The opportunity for students to design, create, see problems and fix them is tremendous. They are getting the best STEM learning from the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative (GCSC).”
 
The GCSC, a nonprofit whose vision is to create a “technologically rich, vibrant community with the most talented STEM workforce in the country that is representative of the region’s population,” applied for the grant and continues to find ways to fund the clubs — currently there's more interest than funding available.  Twenty-eight schools have applied, and three existing clubs are still waiting to see if funding will allow for another year of the club’s implementation.
 
“It’s an awesome opportunity to support something really cool that’s good for kids and our community,” said Mary Adams, GCSC Project Manager. “You can be part of making that happen for elementary and middle schools.” 

Do Good: 

•    Help fund the work of the GCSC. For example, $700 funds one 3-d printer. 

•    Support the GCSC in other ways — perhaps through volunteering.

•    Learn more about Best Buy Community Grants, including how to apply for one in the future.