Lynn Largent is a STEM and calculus instructor. Lynn teaches Introduction to Engineering Design, Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering and Architecture, AP Calculus AB, and AP Calculus BC at Eastern Oklahoma County Technology Center in Choctaw, Oklahoma.
I have the pleasure of teaching some amazing students who are top in the class, are on the path to a great future in engineering, and have wonderful families who support them. Our retention rate at university engineering programs is 96 percent, and we are very proud of our students and their accomplishments.
Recently, while one of our partner schools was on a tour of our facilities, a counselor was amazed at what she saw the students doing and came to me in hopes that we could help her niece have a doll like her. Her niece, Harper, has two cochlear implants. The aunt was unable to find a doll company to make special accessories, and when presented with this challenge, one of my students jumped at the opportunity to help make Christmas a special one for Harper.
Using Autodesk Inventor and our 3-D printer, he designed accessories that look like cochlear implants for two sizes of dolls. Once the student, William Archer, had finished the final design and it was ready to be placed on the doll, I contacted Harper's aunt to let her know that we were ready for her to pick the doll up. To our surprise, the very day the final product was finished was the same day as Harper's birthday!
The aunt is ecstatic that we were able to fulfill her wish. We met Harper in January and are so very happy that the students at EOC Tech get to experience helping a little girl to have a doll that looks like her, and we’re thrilled that students involved in the project for Harper will forever be impacted by the opportunity to see one little girl's smile.
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