Forest Lake board highlights STEP program's 3-D printing and Chromebook-repair training, job placement success

STEP program staff and students presented classroom-to-career activities to the board, highlighting technology training and employment pathways.

Director and STEP staff introduced Sarah (elementary/early-childhood special education coordinator) and teacher Chad, who described how the STEP program integrated assistive-technology tasks, Chromebook repair and 3-D printing into student work. "When Nick came to us, his passion is around technology and he's got some pretty tremendous skills," STEP staff said, introducing student Nick Adamson, who demonstrated taking apart and repairing Chromebook screens and showed examples of multicolored 3-D prints produced by STEP.

Nick described learning to repair Chromebooks and operate 3-D printers: "I can repair the screen cable, repair the screen... we are gutting computers that aren't fixable, fixing ones that are fixable, and then sending them off to where they came from." Staff said the program started with two printers and now uses four, producing up to eight objects per day and more than 200 prints to date; they also said the STEP survey had generated roughly 80 requests for prints.

Administrators and board members praised the program's vocational outcomes. The board heard a Project SEARCH graduate, Maria, describe her environmental-services job at Fairview Lakes Medical Center in housekeeping and imaging support; staff noted Project SEARCH is one of about 13 such programs in Minnesota and partners with vocational-rehab and local employer RISE for job placement.

District staff said they plan to send Nick to further technical training at the area Career and Technical Center to build the hardware and software skills that could lead to a career.

No formal action was taken; the segment was informational and celebrated student skill development and employment outcomes.