By Monique Roth
L’Observateur

LAPLACE — Ever thought of a new product that would solve a problem you had and wished you could just press “print” for easy access to it?

Students at St. Joan of Arc Catholic School in LaPlace aren’t just thinking about it — they’re doing it.

New to the school’s computer classes this year is a 3-D printer, which Marcie Hebert, the computer teacher and technology director at SJA, said is helping students create useful products and creations.

Eighth grade student Ebony Davis recently created and printed a hairdryer holder that can attach to a wall for a project Hebert assigned, asking students to create something that would make their lives easier. That’s just one example, Hebert said, of the students being able to go through all of the design steps of a product, from conception to finished product.

Hebert, who said she thinks of herself as more of a facilitator than a teacher, said her fifth through eighth grade students are learning how to be a resource for each other as they navigate the intricacies of learning how to design products and use the new printer, which is one of three new technological advances being touted this year at SJA.

The students are learning how to use circuits from a kit, called Little Bits, to build creations such as treadmills. Also new to this year’s learning rotation is the Hummingbird Robotics Kit, a program that allows students to build creations through software and control aspects such as motion sensors and lights.

Eighth grader Carlie Meyn is part of a team of students who built an owl out of cardboard boxes and then used the Hummingbird program to teach the owl how to wiggle its wings, Hebert said.

Students figure out the new technology themselves through instructions and YouTube videos rather than lectures alone.

Hebert said the hands-on learning process lets the students learn through their successes, as well as their initial failures.

“It gives our kids the knowledge that even if they don’t know something, they can figure it out,” Hebert said. “It’s OK to fail.”

Student Destiny Myers, who recently fashioned a book and pen holder on the computer and then used the 3-D printer to make it a reality, said it took her three tries to get the dimensions and function of her project perfect, but she didn’t stop trying to make it work.

Hebert said the word “fail” should be viewed as an acronym for “first attempt in learning,” and she doesn’t believe in letting students give up.

“When they get it, their eyes light up,” Hebert said. “It’s that moment of the payoff and it’s the power in seeing they can figure it out and they don’t need the teacher for answers.”

Hebert said she impresses on her classes to work together, use each other as a resource and talk as a group to try and figure out answers before asking for her help.

“This is the most hands-on computer class I’ve ever had,” said Michael Madere, a SJA student who has attended another school in the past.

Aside from the three new technology components this year, Hebert said her students are also learning computer coding — which they’re creating computer games and mazes from — and learning how to use the computer for downloading and uploading assignments.

Student Shannon Monica said the computer class made her realize “school isn’t just books and writing, but it’s actually hands-on learning.”

That kind of learning made Kehara Hill, an eighth-grade student, so interested in computers and technology that she said she wants to become an engineer.