3D ThinkLink Initiative Helps At-Risk Youth Build Resilience

3D ThinkLink student David Kelly from Freestate ChalleNGe Academy in advanced training lab

Considering what many of the at-risk teens our 3D ThinkLink Initiative serves have been through in their young lives, it’s remarkable that they’ve done as well as they have. Violence, poverty, family upheaval, academic failure, substance abuse and all sorts of physical and emotional trauma are recurring themes in their personal stories. Yet some of them thrive despite it all.

This quality of being able to succeed in the face of adversity is known as resilience.

One of the unexpected discoveries we’ve made during five years of teaching 3D design and printing to troubled kids is that the experience helps many of them become more resilient.

That’s because our program emphasizes more than technical skills. It promotes critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and self-confidence. The trial-and-error process of making 3D-printed objects changes our students’ perception of failure. They come to see it as a natural part of the learning process and a step along the path to eventual success.     

Henry Spiegelblatt runs a 3D printer in YouthQuest's 3D ThinkLink class at the PHILLIPS School in Annandale, Virginia
PHILLIPS student Henry Spiegelblatt runs a 3D printer in class

“These are students that have failed often in the classroom and they don’t always have the confidence that they can learn and be successful. The 3D class really gives them that,” said Lindsay Harris, director of the Career Partners Program at PHILLIPS Programs for Children and Families. PHILLIPS has adapted our 3D ThinkLink curriculum for students with autism at its Annandale and Fairfax, Virginia, schools.

“Trying something hard, being successful and becoming competent in it, going through a process where your design fails but then problem-solving to improve the design so that it prints the way you want it … This all has a major impact on their self-esteem and their confidence that they can contribute, they can learn, they can problem-solve,” she added. “We know from the resiliency literature that having successful experiences is one of the ‘protective factors’ that shield you from stresses in life. So this definitely is something that helps build their resiliency.”

Relationships Overcome Risks

“Resilient people defy stereotypes,” explained Associate Professor Elizabeth Anthony from the Arizona State University School of Social Work. In a 2016 speech, she advocated defining children by their strengths instead of their risks.

Anthony, who’s spent two decades studying how some children manage to do well despite adversity, has found that relationships are a key factor.

“It could be a mentor, for example, who helps a young person identify a gift or a talent, that helps inspire them,” she said.

At-risk kids develop more resilience when someone takes an interest in them and “champions their cause,” Anthony added.

A long-running study of children on the Hawaiian island of Kauai that began more than 60 years ago reinforces Anthony’s point. According to an article by Lucy Maddox on the website Quartz:

The researchers in the Kauai study separated the nearly 700 children involved into two groups. Approximately two-thirds were thought to be at low risk of developing any difficulties, but about one-third were classed as “high-risk”: born into poverty, perinatal stress, family discord (including domestic violence), parental alcoholism or illness. they found that two-thirds of this group went on to develop significant problems. But totally unexpectedly, approximately one-third of the “high-risk” children didn’t. They developed into competent, confident and caring individuals, without significant problems in adult life. 

Freestate ChalleNGe Academy cadet David Kelly does advanced training in YouthQuest's 3D ThinkLink Lab in June 2017
David Kelly does advanced training in the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab

“One person can make a big difference,” the study’s principal investigator Lali McCubbin, told Maddox. “A lot of the research supports this idea of relationships, and the need to have a sense of someone that believes in you or someone that supports you – even in a chaotic environment – just having that one person.”

Jonathan Brown and Jamarr Dennis experienced this as a 3D ThinkLink instructors at Maryland’s Freestate ChalleNGe Academy last year, when one of their students was David Kelly, who lives in tough, inner-city part of Baltimore.

“In his family and neighborhood, it would be so easy for him to fall back into what he got away from. But this kid separated himself from all the commotion, all the folks who wanted to continue to go down the wrong path, who tried to use peer pressure and other methods to get him off the path,” said Brown. “His commitment to complete the program was unparalleled. Being in 3D couldn’t have been a better experience for him, to see someone believing in him and being successful doing it.”

“He watched me print out a chess piece and that opened his eyes,” Dennis recalled. “He said I want to do the same thing you just did, but I want to do it from scratch. And then from there on, he just started progressing. He was so excited about it. … It turned on that inspiration, that ambitiousness, that he has.” 

“Afterwards he gave me the biggest hug you could give anybody and said thank you for being patient with me, especially teaching me in this class,” added Dennis.

Kelly turned out to be one of the top 3D students in his class at Freestate and went on to attend advanced training in the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab at our headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia, last summer. This month, he enlisted in the Delayed Entry Program and is on his way to fulfilling his dream of becoming a U.S. Marine.

Competence Creates Confidence

The at-risk teens we serve typically have very limited life experiences, and what experiences they do have are overwhelmingly negative. As a result, their view of what’s possible for them is also limited. That’s why our 3D ThinkLink Initiative is designed to expose these young people to new ideas and experiences. For instance, each class cycle includes Vocational Orientation tours that take students to places they’ve never been and show them how the 3D skills they’re learning in class are used by businesses and universities.   

Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy cadet Daniela Aguilar at Vocational Orientation in the University of Maryland Tissue Engineering Lab in April 2017
Daniela Aguilar at Vocational Orientation in the University of Maryland Tissue Engineering Lab

“One of the most exciting findings in the last decade or so is that we can change the wiring of the brain through the experiences we expose it to. The right experiences can shape the individual, intrinsic characteristics of a child in a way that will build their resilience,” psychologist Karen Young wrote on the website Hey Sigmund.

Experiences that show at-risk kids they’re capable of doing difficult things can be life-changing, Young added. Developing competence and “a sense of mastery” strengthens their resilience.

3D design and printing seems daunting to our students when they begin class. Most of them have told us they didn’t think they could do it at first. But the teachers guide them step-by-step through the 3D ThinkLink curriculum, showing them how to solve problems through critical thinking and iterative improvement. Although they experience plenty of failures while designing and printing 3D objects, they learn from those mistakes and keep trying until they’re successful.

The overarching lesson of our program that failure is not final – in 3D printing and in life. It’s gratifying when we see at-risk kids take that lesson to heart.

One of those who did is Daniela Aguilar from Washington, DC, who was in our 3D class at Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy during the first half of last year. She fell one test short of earning her General Equivalency Diploma (GED), so the school asked her to come back for the next class cycle to serve as peer mentor, which gave her the chance to stay on campus and finish her GED.

Daniela Aguilar presents the 3D-printed clock she made to Miss Black Maryland USA Saidah Grimes at Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy in August, 2017
Daniela Aguilar presents the 3D-printed clock she made to Miss Black Maryland USA Saidah Grimes

“She was young — 16 when she came to us in January – and had a difficult home life. That’s one of the reasons we allowed her to become a peer mentor, to keep her in a better environment for a little while longer to accomplish her goal of completing her GED,” said Keith Hammond, who teaches 3D ThinkLink classes at Capital Guardian.

When Miss Black Maryland USA Saidah Grimes visited the campus last August, a counselor asked if Hammond’s class could make a 3D-printed keepsake. Because Aguilar had completed 3D ThinkLink training in the previous class cycle, Hammond assigned her the task of designing and printing a customized clock for the VIP guest.

“In the beginning, she thought being back at Capital Guardian as a peer mentor would make people think of her as a failure because she hadn’t passed her GED. But because she got the spotlight by knowing 3D printing, making the clock and presenting it in front of everyone, she felt better about herself,” said Hammond. “When she got that positive reinforcement because she knew how to do the 3D program, I think it made her understand internally that she is worth the effort.”

3D ThinkLink Students Eager to Share What They’ve Learned

Tom Meeks with 3D ThinkLInk immersion lab week students

Cadets from Maryland’s Freestate and DC’s Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academies prepared to serve as Youth Mentors during a week of immersion training in YouthQuest’s 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab this month.

“As far as I’m concerned, this was the most successful immersion experience we’ve done,” said YouthQuest Director of Instruction Tom Meeks. “We were totally focused this time on how to use their skills to be mentors to young people in their families and neighborhoods, and how to work in the community to demonstrate what 3D design and printing is.”

The 3D ThinkLink Initiative uses instruction in 3D design and printing as a vehicle for teaching at-risk youth about critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and confidence. The Youth ChalleNGe Program, run by the National Guard, gives dropouts a second chance to get their lives back on track and earn a high school degree.

Advanced students build a JellyBox 3D printer in YouthQuest's 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab during immersion training week June 2017
Advanced students work in the 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab

For teens who have struggled in school, the experience of learning something cool like 3D printing and teaching it to others does wonders for their self-esteem.

“Now I can do things to help people who were in my shoes,” said Freestate Cadet David Kelly, 16, from Baltimore.

During daylong sessions in the lab, our advanced students became thoroughly familiar with the setup, operation and troubleshooting of the M3D Micro 3D printers they’ll be using as mentors. They also worked with new types of materials they hadn’t used in their on-campus classes, such flexible and color-changing filaments.

For the first time, the students made designs to be built in the lab’s full-color powder bed printer, so they could experience a professional level of 3D printing.

Staying motivated all week was no problem for these students. After a full day in the lab, they would take their laptop computers back to their hotel rooms and work on designs until 9:00 or 10:00 at night, then come back the next morning eager to print their creations.

‘It’s Like Therapy’

All four cadets said being involved in our program benefited them in ways that go far beyond gaining technical skills. They described 3D ThinkLink class as a respite from the regimented life at their ChalleNGe academies, where they spent 5 ½ months away from home.

Freestate ChalleNGe Academy Cadet David Kelly holds a frame for a fidget spinner he 3D printed during immersion training week in YouthQuest's 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab June 2017
David Kelly holds a frame for a fidget spinner he 3D printed

David explained that he would get frustrated in other classes sometimes, but having the opportunity to use his imagination and design whatever he liked in 3D class every week always made him feel better.

“Making stuff calmed me down,” he said. “Whenever I make new things, I generally get happy. It lightens my mood.”

The same was true for Capital Guardian Cadet LaMarcus Corley.

“It has helped me control my anger,” the 17 year old from Washington, DC, wrote in a scholarship-winning essay about his 3D ThinkLink experience. “When I come to class, my whole mood changes. I become happy because I know that I’m in a good place.”

Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy Cadet Adrian Vasquez uses Moment of Inspiration 3D software to create a design during immersion training week in YouthQuest's 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab June 2017
Adrian Vasquez uses Moment of Inspiration 3D design software

LaMarcus also said our class brought out the creativity he used to keep “all bottled in” and taught him how to “think about stuff differently.”

“It helped me with focusing more — paying attention to detail, getting everything right,” said Freestate Cadet Stephen Brown, 16, from Upper Marlboro, Maryland. “It taught me to never give up and to focus on your goal.”

It also helped keep them out of trouble. All the cadets said they appreciated being chosen for the 3D ThinkLink program and enjoyed it so much that they wouldn’t risk being kicked out for misbehaving.

Before he enrolled at Capital Guardian, Cadet Adrian Vasquez said, he had problems in school.

“I would get good grades, but my mind would always be on something else. So I got caught up with stuff I wasn’t supposed to be around,” the 16-year-old from DC said. “But ever since I started 3D, my mind has been nowhere near that stuff.”

“It’s like therapy, a type of therapy. Working on 3D designs keeps me focused, not on the other nonsense stuff,” Adrian explained.

“And my mom is cheering me on,” he added. “She’s seen all the posts about us on Facebook and she’s never been so happy. She knows the rough times I had.”

Thinking Differently About the Future

The 3D ThinkLink experience opened these at-risk teens’ eyes to new opportunities and changed their view of what’s possible for them.

“I’ve never really been so confident about the things I’m doing,” said Adrian, who plans to become a master automotive technician.

Freestate ChalleNGe Academy Cadet Stephen Brown checks a print on an M3D Micro 3D printer during immersion training week in YouthQuest's 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab June 2017
Stephen Brown checks one of his designs printing on an M3D Micro

Stephen is aiming for a career as a fashion designer and entrepreneur. With 3D printing playing an ever-increasing role in the fashion industry, he realizes the value of the hands-on experience he gained in our classes.

“It really helped me think outside the box and I can use that to my advantage in the future,” he said. “As I pursue my career, the 3D printer will really help me print out prototypes of designs.”

Learning 3D printing gave LaMarcus a new perspective about his options after graduating from Capital Guardian and he’s looking forward to being a Youth Mentor.

“I know it changed me, so I want to make a change in people’s lives,” he said.

So does Adrian, who was reminded of the importance of giving back when he discovered how 3D-printed prosthetic devices help people who’ve lost limbs.

“I had a mindset thinking that this was just for me or for my family,” he explained. “It’s not always for yourself. You can always improve someone else’s life.”

Capital Guardian Youth ChalleNGe Academy Cadet LaMarcus Corley uses the lab's full-color powder printer for the first time during immersion training week in YouthQuest's 3D ThinkLink Creativity Lab June 2017
LaMarcus Corley uses the lab’s full-color powder printer for the first time

The work these students do as Youth Mentors will support YouthQuest’s goal of reducing America’s dropout rate.

David hopes the children he reaches will share his excitement about 3D printing and decide to learn more about it.

“This isn’t easy stuff. There’s a bunch of math in it, so you really have to stay in school to understand this,” he said.

David added that he’s eager to inspire younger kids “because they’re going to be the future for us.”

“I understand I’m the future now, but they’re going to be the future for me.”