Visionary STEM program trains in science, leadership

It’s a Monday morning at Uniondale High School, and more than a dozen middle school youngsters are focused raptly on the classroom smart board.

But this isn’t a Monday morning during the school year. No. This is summer. And the kids are part of an enrichment program focused in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Known as Morrison Mentors, the program gives young teens like these in Uniondale a chance to spend their time not on a movie or a game, but a science lecture given by three young men.

Morrison Mentors is an 11-year-old Hempstead non-profit that holds classes just like this for students 12 and older not only at its Fulton Avenue location in the village, but elsewhere as well — like Uniondale High.

On this particular day, the topic was 3D printing.

“The material this is made of is called a ‘filament,’” said Kevin Nerestil, 19, while holding a small white bust of the father of alternating electrical current, Nikola Tesla. “So, if you look back there,” he said, pointing to a small 3D printer at the rear of the classroom that was extruding a blue substance onto a metal bed, “the little blue wire coming out of it is called the filament.”

“The thing that holds the filament is the spool,” interjected Christopher Simpson, another one of the instructors.

“The spool keeps it organized, so you’re not tripping over it,” Nerestil said.

“Because if it isn’t organized, it gets tangled,” said Davon Drew, a Uniondale High junior who was helping out in the lesson. “And then we lose our 3D print, and we waste our money.”

Davon moved among the students seated at long tables in front of computers, answering murmured questions while the lecture continued

“There are different types of filament,” Nerestil said, indicating the Tesla bust again. “This, for example, is made out of PLA. It’s called polylactic acid.”

“It’s one of the most common materials,” Simpson said.

“Yes, it doesn’t warp easily, and can take intense temperatures,” Nerestil added, before jumping into cautionary information about how hot the 3D printer becomes while it operates.

The discussion moved on to a diagram on the smart board showing how a 3D printer would appear in a TinkerCAD 3D design program, including how to use X, Y, and Z axes to create a project, with humorous participation by Debrah Pfeiffer, the Uniondale middle school coordinator.

“So, the X and Y would be like the square on the floor,” Pfeiffer said. “And the Z would point up toward the ceiling. Did everyone know that but me?”

The students laughed.

“And about safety, again,” Simpson continued, “never touch the 3D printer when it’s on, because it gets hot and you can get burned.”

“Don’t put your hand underneath or on the motors, because they’re actually moving parts and your fingers can get caught in them,” Nerestil said.

“Then not only will we get burnt, we might lose fingers,” Simpson said.

“And as of now,” finished Nerestil, “we can’t print you an actual 3D finger.”

The students lined up to receive iPads containing TinkerCAD — a free-to-use 3D modeling program — then returned to their seats and logged in to start the day’s project: designing a keychain.

The students knew they would not handle the 3D printer themselves. Their finished designs would be transmitted to the Morrison Mentors professionals, who would print them at the Hempstead site and send them back to the classroom.

“Kids who have taken our classes showed interest in technology, and gone through our training program,” said Doron Spleen, chief executive of Morrison Mentors. They “can move on to become assistants, and then interns. Through programs and grants that we’re able to access, they get support services like training in financial literacy. It’s almost workforce development.”

The program becomes a means of community mentoring.

“Davon and Chris are from Uniondale,” Spleen said. “The students they teach might see them at school or walking down the street. They’ll know that Davon and Chris represent Morrison Mentors, and they’ll want to get trained as assistants, and so it goes.”

Morrison Mentors has proved its worth to the Uniondale school district.

“A lot of the students were excited to choose this STEM class again,” Pfeiffer said, “because they really enjoyed it last summer.”

And it’s ultimately something students aren’t exposed to in a regular class, said Clinton Grant, a district administrator helping oversee the summer program.

“And I like the fact that it has a mentorship message.”