Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, November 09, 2010

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Winburn students are learning to use a heat press to transfer designs onto T-shirts. For an STLP project, they are researching and creating products to sell in the Warrior Warehouse.

Each fall, students from Fayette and surrounding counties gather at the University of Kentucky for the STLP Showcase, where they demonstrate everything from Lego robotics, live news shows and claymation to digital photography and webcasting.

“I like seeing everyone else’s projects,” said Raiffa Syamil, a seventh-grader at Winburn Middle School and veteran of the Student Technology Leadership Program.

Last year, Raiffa was part of the Winburn group that laid the groundwork for the Warrior Warehouse, which the kids will unveil Nov. 11.

“We plan to have a few T-shirts as examples,” said classmate Aislinn Langley, a new STLP member who is eager to attend her first showcase.

Through the Warrior Warehouse, the kids will sell T-shirts and mouse pads, buttons and other items they have researched, designed and created. They also will take photos and laminate student ID cards and print business cards for teachers at Winburn.

“Our students are still in the design phase. They will have examples of research they have done and their timeline, as they hope to have all products ready to go for the spring,” said STLP adviser Ashley Rosen, the school technology coordinator. “Right now they are still working on their budget and promotion of items. Their goal is to make some prototypes and then take orders.”

The Warrior Warehouse project falls in the Entrepreneurial category; the competitive showcase also features Community Service, Global Connections, Instructional, and Technical entries. Students are vying for spots in May’s STLP state championship, with hopes of winning a trip to next summer’s International Society for Technology in Education conference in Philadelphia.

The store idea was born last year after some Winburn kids wanted to make team T-shirts for the STEM Fair. (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). They subsequently designed shirts for the school’s robotics club, too.

“If it’s student-made, it’s more appealing because they have their ideas on it,” Rosen noted.

The kids have also been taking pictures around school for mouse-pad images, and they will be able to handle one-of-a-kind orders if customers submit their own designs.

Rosen has used this STLP opportunity to incorporate multiple lessons. For instance, her students talked about artistic elements such as choice of colors for the T-shirt transfers, and they researched the cost of ink and other supplies, looking for the best deals.

The kids will use Excel spreadsheets to keep track of orders as well as their profit margin. On the production side, they will learn to use a laser printer and a heat press. And for marketing, they will write a skit for Winburn’s morning news show, make sales fliers and tout their products on the school’s website.

“They have to be creative and catch the audience’s attention,” Rosen said.

One thing she has emphasized is that the most successful businesses are well-thought-out and succeed over time, so she encourages her students to make goals and work hard for positive results.

“You have to organize and come up with a plan and a solution, which is what they do every day in the classroom,” she said.

If you go

What: STLP Showcase, featuring student projects from several counties

When: Open to the public from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday Nov. 11

Where: UK Student Center ballroom

Contact: Julie Gaskin, FCPS technology resource teacher, (859) 381-4732

Specifics: To see what Fayette County students are working on this school year, visit http://teach.fcps.net/STLP/School/Plans10_11.htm.