Smith Brothers Insurance Grant: Manufacturing Enterprise ~ The Freedom Pen Project
- School Year: 2017-2018
- Applicants: Dawn Anstett, Lead Teacher
- School: Bristow Middle School
- Subjects: Technology, Other
Through the exploration of engineering and manufacturing, Bristow Middle School's 7th grade technology and engineering students use the engineering design process to discover the world of modern manufacturing through units of study, incluing technical design through CAD, manufacturing processes, and the safe use of equipment within a production environment. This project is designed to enhance 7th grade manufacturing units, by allowing students to be part of a pen enterprise, exploring different job responsibilities in a cooperate job structure and gaining an understanding of all the roles necessary to successfully mass-produce a product. In addtion, to ensure we meet our goal of producing a minimum of 100 “Freedom Pens,” students in both 7th and 8th grade would participate as part of an afterschool club. They would make up our pen company's executive board, taking the lessons learned beyond the classroom. The Freedom Pen project is an all-volunteer effort, made by woodworkers from all over the United States to provide their time and talents to create custom personal pens as a symbol of their support of our military. The goal is to ship at least 20,000 pens each year and to produce at least 100 pens for the military.