BELGRADE - An engineering project through the help of Montana State University turned into a little more than a class project for fourth-grade students at Story Creek Elementary School.
They built air filters with the hope of helping people out in Denton after the devastating wildfire.
“Ms. Rapstad's brother just got done with a fire,” fourth-grade student Bergen Lacey said.
The original goal was to build air filters after spending a summer filled with smoke in Montana, but the class project then turned into a call to action after the wildfire that hit Denton.
“You guys build the filters and send them to Denton, so it was a collaborative effort,” said teacher Amanda Rapstad.
Their inspiration was Ms. Rapstad’s brother who works as a volunteer EMT in Denton.
“Get the kids to recognize that engineers help people,” said Rapstad.
With a partnership with MSU, the project is a part of the Looks Like Me Project, which aims to teach students that engineers do more than just build.
“It's more than just teaching reading or math or writing, I want my students to be problem solvers,” says Rapstad.
The young engineers sprang into action following the recent fire, learning and even failing a couple of times along the way.
“We had to start over once or twice to get it to work, lots of testing, lots of changes,” fourth-grade student Leo Des Jardins said.
As the air filters come together, the fan sucks air into the air filters trapping the dirty air inside.
“I feel like a real engineer, I feel good about myself,” says Des Jardins.
Learning and helping a community in their state.
“It makes me feel like we are accomplishing something,” says Lacey.
“In their life, they can figure out a problem and solve it; it doesn't matter how young they are,” says Rapstad.
As their project wraps up they hope to send their filters out to Denton sometime this weekend.
