On October 16th, Westminster Tool welcomed a group of fifteen third grade students from Moosup Elementary School into the shop. Westminster Tool has been a supporter of Moosup Elementary and their Makerspace program since its inception. This visit was an opportunity to not only meet some of the students who benefit from the Makerspace program, but it also gave these students an opportunity to see the shop and meet the team at Westminster Tool.
Employees from different areas of the shop were eager to spend part of their day working with the students to complete a Makerspace project. The students were not only joined by our team, however. They were also joined by State Representatives Anne Dauphinais and Brian Lanoue who came to show their support and learn more about the partnership between Moosup Elementary School’s Makerspace program and Westminster Tool. Each representative and Westminster Tool team member was paired with a student to work together to complete a STEM challenge.
Each pair was tasked with creating a bridge made of toothpicks and marshmallows. They were given a time limit to design then build their bridge with the goal of building the tallest structure that could also support the weight of a deck of cards. Not only was this a fun activity to get the students and adults working together, but it was also a way to teach troubleshooting, design, and learning from the results of an experiment. Once the results were in, each pair took a few minutes to discuss what they could have done differently and record alternative ideas.
This activity was not the sole reason for inviting the Moosup Elementary School students. Westminster Tool presented Moosup Elementary and Shepard Hill Elementary with a check for more than $5000 to continue supporting the Makerspace program. This donation will be able to fund the purchase of project supplies so that these students can continue to grow and challenge themselves outside of a traditional classroom setting through the Makerspace program.
Westminster Tool has been a huge supporter of this Makerspace program. Not only does the program benefit the students of the Plainfield community, it also helps teach key skills needed in manufacturing. By introducing these skills at a young age, students can learn to improve their ability to troubleshoot and problem solve while also getting an early start on learning about a career in manufacturing or other college alternative career paths.
