First-graders at Dundee Elementary Academy are using technology to help children in need around the world.
The students are building 20 prosthetic hands for needy children in countries like China, Haiti and Nepal.
Susan Gann and her first-grade classes are working with the organization Enabling the Future to build the prosthetic hands.
"When they found out that we could actually make a hand and give that hand to a child somewhere in the world that would truly make a difference, they were all on board," Gann said.
The students plan and print their own materials on a 3D printer for less than $25 per hand. Then they assemble each hand, piece by piece, and finally they test the hands before they’re sent to other countries.
"I had to keep trying because at first I couldn't do it," student Jordan Williams said.
The first graders aren’t just helping others through their work; they’re also helping themselves.
"They're phenomenal with [the work],” said Gann. "They love it and you know what, they really can do it."
The work they are doing is a lesson in helping and accepting others, and the students are excited to see their work in action.