I plan to connect my summer internship experience to my classroom curriculum through various methods.  I have asked my CTE director for a 3D printer, If I am able to attain one I will use maker space to create 3D objects in my fashion merchandising, marketing and entrepreneurship courses.  I also look forward to coding in my courses with the Arduino Lily Pad and making wearable devices. I will stress that my students utilize the engineering design process when they are developing projects and products. also encouraging students to participate in the One Health competition. Lastly I plan to incorporate many of the techniques and tools I learned  at NCCAT in my courses this upcoming year.

My  most interesting moment during my internship at NC State’s ASSIST center was using the 3D printer and visiting the textiles labs. I have wanted a 3D printer for my class for a few years now.  I’m glad I was given the opportunity to learn how to operate a 3D printer. Another interesting moment was going to the textiles lab and learning how students were screen printing electric circuits. My biggest challenge was learning how to code, I know with continued practice I will be able to teach basic coding to my students.  I was also grateful for having the opportunity to visit various departments and labs. I was most intrigued by the knitting machines in the textiles labs.  I worked with two mentors Dr. Veety from the ASSIST center and Dr. Jurr from the textiles department, but had the opportunity to meet many professionals working at NC state.  Dr. Jurr was a great mentor, it was Dr. Jurr who suggested we visit his textiles labs and get assistance with our perfect posture flex sensor shirt. My biggest takeaway for my internship experience was no doubt learning how to code, screen printing electric circuits, and learning how to operate a 3D printer.  I’m grateful for having a chance to experience the Kenan Fellows program.

One of the challenges I will face transferring my internship experience into educational resources in my classroom will be the resources I have available. I hope to attain funding to purchase a 3D printer for my classroom.  The 3D printer was used to create the housing for the Lily Pad and can be utilized by various other CTE courses.  I will also need to develop my coding skills if I want to create various levels of projects/ products. I have watched various tutorials and am becoming more comfortable coding. I have created a successful lesson plan that will challenge my students and hopefully stimulate great Ideas for projects/products.  The knowledge I’ve learned during my internship at the ASSIST center has been a success in it self.  I am more knowledgeable about 3D printing and developing  wearable  devices. I was very excited to learn about screen printing electrical circuits onto textiles.

My internship experience will benefit my mentor’s organization through promotion and exposure. Everyone at my school will hear about the Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and
Technologies (ASSIST) center and Textiles programs at NC State. I will definitely promote the programs to students and colleagues. I can’t wait to display my posters for the wearable device I created this summer in the hall by my classroom.  I learned so many cool things this summer, I cant wait to share and collaborate with educators within my school and district.  My CDC and CTE director have also promoted the Kenan Fellows program and the project I help develop throughout the Durham Public School System.  Hopefully the extra exposure in Durham Public School will recruit and produce another cohort of exceptional fellows.  I also hope to expose my students to potential career  opportunities in coding, engineering, and textiles, possibly creating future ‘Wolf Pack” graduates.

One of the goals of my internship is to try to learn and retain as much information as possible in an effort to share what I’ve learned with my students and colleagues. I had the opportunity to learn lots of skills and techniques during NCCAT that will benefit my colleagues and students. I want to make sure I have learned the basics of  making wearables to potentially prepare my students for the One Health Challenge.  I also hope to inspire other educators at my school to incorporate wearable, coding, and the engineering design process into their curriculum. With the help of my colleagues I hope to be able to cross curriculums to potentially get students interested in coding and wearable technologies.