Central Campus CADD Students Team Up with Local Charity for Education
Students from the CADD program at Central Campus were approached by Des Moines based charity Six Degrees of Separation – Removing Barriers for Education to build a replica of a school in Labiche, Haiti to assist with fundraising efforts. Along with building the replica, students were also presented the challenge of designing new classroom space for future building plans using limited materials and land availability.
Six Degrees co-founder Jane Hemminger visited Central Campus on January 22nd to provide a background of the charity, the village and people they were supporting, and future goals of adding to the school in Labiche. The date of the fundraiser would be Saturday, February 21st so the model and designs would have to be completed by then. Due to the extremely tight time constraints, the project was discussed and voted on by the class. The students felt that the project could be accomplished in time, so the project was given the green light.
First task was to research Labiche, Haiti, the school buildings being used, the students they serve, and geographic data needed. Along with their instructor, students decided on a scale to which the model should be built, deciding on ¼” = 1’. Then came the process of building a foundation of the model out of pink foam insulation board, eventually shaping the foam to mimic the slope of a mountain side. Scale models had to be built of current buildings being used. Various tasks were divided up with each student choosing to work on a specific job. Tile grout was used to cover the foam board to provide a rocky terrain, and craft moss was added to represent vegetation. Materials were painted to match the current look of buildings located on the site. Corrugated cardboard was painted to look like corrugated steel.
The second part of the project was to create a design for new classroom space for school expansion using limited materials and limited land availability. Students went through an abbreviated architectural design process to come up with a design that match current structures in the community. Designs were limited to materials of concrete, concrete masonry units (blocks), wood, and corrugated steel due to availability and transportation. Designs had to be simple due to construction equipment and expertise available. The land that was available for use had an irregular quadrilateral shape. Students learned Autodesk Revit 3D architectural modeling software to create their designs, producing visuals and printed plans. Physical models were then created to match their CAD designs.
The class was invited to attend the fundraiser held at Koch Office Systems on February 21st, 2015. Students did an excellent job building the model and the founders of Six Degrees of Separation were very appreciative. All in all, only 23 class hours equaling less than four weeks were used to create the models and designs. The model and designs are currently on display at Central Campus. Students involved were Jamie M. (H), Dema M. (L), Rachel N. (N), Brent W. (N), and William Z. (L).
The CADD program at Central Campus is a one or two year program where students are dual enrolled as a DMACC student and may earn up to 23 DMACC credits over two years, as well as high school credit. Students are also given the opportunity to earn software certifications, new for the 2014-2015 school year.
For more information, feel free to contact Mr. Gadbury at clinton.gadbury@dmschools.org.
For more information on the CADD program at Central Campus, please visit https://centralcampus.dmschools.org/engineering/.
For more information about Six Degrees of Separation – Removing Barriers for Education, please visit http://www.sixdegreeshaiti.org/.
