‘Goal-Oriented’ High School Students Design Wheelchair Attachment for Disabled Dad to Take Newborn on Walks
“In this course, students will make a valuable, positive, and concrete contribution to the community using design thinking processes and creation skills,” read the description of “The Facilitation Course.” good for society” at the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland.
“Students will develop and exercise empathy, a key element of the design thinking process, to address needs in the community (local, regional, or global) rather than needs or wants. individual,” description of the school website continue. “Students will use BITlab tools to create a product or service that can positively affect the lives of others, will understand their impact on the world, and learn the skills they need. necessary to act on that knowledge.”
The course was developed by teacher Matt Zigler, who wants to give students a profitable project with real-world ramifications. It sounds great, and if you ask Jeremy King, it To be so great.
Jeremy is the recipient of a recent product of the course, and it makes sense to him.
It all started 3 years ago, when he had a brain tumor removed and eventually had trouble keeping his balance. He was able to walk and walk on his own, but in 2020 he and his wife found out they were pregnant – and quickly realized that Jeremy would have limited interactions with his baby.
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“While he can walk, he cannot safely hold a baby,” said his wife, Chelsie King.Good Morning America. ” “So we jumped in, ‘OK, what do we need for him to safely parent?’ and honestly, there’s not much on offer – there’s just really not a lot of resources available to parents with disabilities. “
That’s where the Good for Society students come in. Chelsie, who works at Bullis, hooked up with Zigler last fall, and a project was born.
Use their problem-solving skills and a product called “Manufacturer pipe”, a group of 10 students came up with a unique, safe solution for Jeremy and his son, Phoenix.
“The idea of the course was to start by trying to understand the problem, so we interviewed the family,” says Zigler.
“We spoke to someone at the local fire department who was actually training in how to install infant car seats to try to get a better understanding of how those things work. “
Student designed 3D models and compared them, and settled on the two. They wanted to make sure Jeremy had a more permanent solution to his problem, so they stuck with two different phases of Phoenix’s life.
The first product they designed was a wheelchair attachment that could hold an infant car seat facing the wheelchair user. They call it the “WheeStroll Stroller Attachment.”
The second product created to connect wheelchairs to actual strollers – “WheeStroll Wheelchair Connector.”
With regular check-ins to make sure their designs look good to Jeremy, the students built some parts of the school 3D printer, parts were sourced from a local hardware store, borrowed a wheelchair from the school nurse, and tested the load capacity with box blocks to make sure the attachment could hold a baby.
Jeremy said: “It was emotional to see the process and things turn out like this. “I really felt the students took all of my interest in creating the prototypes.”
With their productions completed, all that was left was for the new dad to take them on a shoot, something he was so looking forward to and finally had to do shortly after Phoenix was born in March.
“Using it was overwhelming because I never thought I would be able to do something like this with our son,” he said. “Most people can go for a walk with the family but it’s been really hard for me – most people take it for granted.”
The kings were delighted with the results, but the benefits went beyond that: The students saw that they could be part of the solution, helping people with their skills, and The design has been shared online, available to anyone who may find the attachment useful.
“We are all very goal oriented,” said one of the students, 18-year-old Jacob Zlotnitsky. “We are all focused on making the best product possible in the time we have.”
“I feel so lucky to be able to take a class that has allowed me to really make a difference in someone’s life.”
“I love the idea that these students got this project and it’s going to be something permanent,” added Chelsie. “I know they’ll remember it for years to come, which is all you can hope for as an educator.”
https://www.westernjournal.com/goal-oriented-high-school-students-design-wheelchair-attachment-disabled-dad-take-newborn-walks/ | ‘Goal-Oriented’ High School Students Design Wheelchair Attachment for Disabled Dad to Take Newborn on Walks
