Projects with a Purpose: When Engineering Meets Philanthropy

Overview

Character education is central to Liberty Common High School’s mission, so when engineering teacher Kay Lannen heard about Project Heart, she immediately brought in her colleague, Dave Kleen. Together, they built a unit around a single reframe: philanthropy doesn’t mean writing a check. For engineering students, the treasure is a room full of computers, CAD software, 3D printers, and a laser cutter. The question: What could students build with that treasure for someone who genuinely needs it?

How the Curriculum Was Used

Kay and Dave spent one class period on philanthropy, the 3Ts, and famous philanthropists. The next day, students brainstormed engineering projects rooted in giving – individually, then with peers, then through interviews with a parent, teacher, or community member. All ideas were collected and reviewed together. From that set, each student chose a project, identified a real client for feedback, and followed the full engineering design cycle: define, research, brainstorm, design, fabricate, test, iterate, and present.

What Students Created

One student interviewed her aunt, who has a daughter with a genetic condition requiring daily medication by syringe. The aunt needed something to hold and dry all the syringes – organized, off surfaces, accessible fast. The student designed a two-piece syringe holder in CAD and 3D-printed it. Simple. Useful. Exactly right. Other students created drawing aids for beginning art students, fidget tools for students with learning disabilities, and solutions to help family members navigate medical challenges. Dave Kleen reflected: “It blew me away how discussing philanthropy and connecting to the 3Ts really improved the quality of the projects students proposed.”

The Full Resource Kit

Kay and Dave have made their entire unit available for other educators. Downloads include a complete Unit Plan, a Student Engineering Notebook Template, a Client Feedback Form, an Assessment Rubric, and a Student Examples document. No identical makerspace required – the “Projects with a Purpose” framework adapts to whatever time, talent, and treasure your classroom has available.

Why It Matters

This unit asks students to look outward and find someone – a family member, a neighbor, a community – whose problem their skills can solve. It turns engineering from an academic exercise into an act of care. The work is technical. The impact is human. Students who complete it understand both their capability and their responsibility in a way no standardized test can measure.