Posted November 6, 2015

Students at St. Thomas the Apostle School in Glen Mills, Delaware County, are among the first in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to use a 3D printer in the classroom this year.

Sixth, seventh and eighth graders will use software called Tinkercad to build and render projects on their Chromebook computers.

Project creation time varies from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the size and complexity of the project. Sixth grade art classes will be designing their own Lego characters for their first project.

“Any projects including technology or just showing students in general that art is so much more than pencils and paper is exciting for me,” said Anastasia Angelillo, art teacher at St. Thomas the Apostle School. “Scale and measurement are essential for creating with the 3D printer, which offers wonderful opportunity for interdisciplinary domains.”

Math and science classes will also be using the technology throughout the school year for several hands on projects.