Washingtonville Middle School students 3D print holiday cheer

Eighth grade students in technology teacher Jayson Escalera’s class at Washingtonville Middle School took science and creativity to the next level by designing and 3D printing their own holiday ornaments!

Using Tinkercad, a 3D modeling program, students combined digital shapes to build custom ornament designs from scratch. Once their creations were finalized, the files were sent to the classroom 3D printer, where each ornament slowly took shape, layer by layer, over several hours.

From there, students carefully primed and painted their ornaments, applying multiple thin coats to make the colors pop on the plastic surface. It was a lesson not only in design and technology, but also in patience.

​“It took a lot of time and focus,” eighth grader Orion Behrends shared. “Even one tiny change could affect the whole print, so I had to work slowly and really pay attention.”

Classmates Maddie Salisbury and Priya Beary agreed, noting that it took them almost an entire week to get their designs ready for printing. 

“I struggled to get the hat on my ornament in the right place,” Maddie explained. “On the computer, it looks way different than in person, so you have to be really careful with coding.”

The ornament designs were as thoughtful as they were festive. Orion created a miniature piano to reflect his love of music, while Maddie and Priya took inspiration from Mr. Escalera’s classroom frog collection, designing matching frog ornaments, each topped with a tiny hat.

​For Maddie, the project didn’t just get her in the holiday spirit; it opened her eyes to the excitement and satisfaction of coding and design. 

“At first I wasn't really interested in coding, but once I started to get into it, it was really fun,” she said. “I think more people should try it and see if they like it before deciding it’s not for them.”