I am prepping for my trip back to Amsterdam.  I decided to look into the presence of 3D printing in the city.  Last summer, I peered into the windows of a shop that printed and sold items that were nothing like what I had seen in the US - soft, functional, and complex in design.  Then, I recently read about the 3D printed house in the city.  So I started to search.  And I have found a great deal tied to photography.  Things I have not found discussed in the US.  And I have been looking.  Last April, the Rijkmuseum held a conference on 2D and 3D photography.  I am looking up workshops and in just a minute found one that I could take the Saturday I am there - in laser printing, which is related to a printer I read about recently.  On top of that, I found a place in our area that is sort of a maker space.  And I wonder why I am the only one finding this out.

Why am I so gung ho on researching all of this?  Because I know damn well that my program is in jeopardy.  My classes are full eight periods of the day and I can fill ten periods if that was a possibility.  I have three sections.  I have kids who graduate and continue in the field - hobby or business.  Yet, I know this is in jeopardy.  Why?  They think they need my room.  I have two rooms - one for the digital lab, one for the darkroom.  There are people who do not see the value or need for traditional processes.  However, one brief survey of college photo programs and photo professionals will confirm that a foundation in film is necessary.  The medium is still viable.  It is like saying Sculpture is insignificant now the 3D printing has arrived or that Drawing and Painting are done because of computer based Graphic Design.  Nonsense.

In addition to this, I was approached by the Robotics teacher a month ago about doing a colab lesson.  I have been wracking my brains trying to figure out a way to do this.  I might have found something.  But along the way, I am finding so much more.  It really is quite exciting.

So I brought the printer down to Cafe 026 to print with the AP kids.  Last Spring, I printed the manual, since I did not have it.  Thursday, I had two kids clean it - it was covered in dust and cobwebs.  Friday morning, I prepped the printer.  I removed the black filament, replacing it with the white.  I leveled the printing platform.  Looking at the menus, I see there is a way to turn the sound off.  Great!  I can run it without worrying about it disturbing my colleague's classes.  I did all this.  Myself.  My first time running this thing on my own.  Doing some things I was never shown how to do.  I was damn proud of myself.

Then, period 5 comes in.  And the majority of the class gathers around me and the printer.  And the kids in Photo II are begging me to print something on it.  Damn.  Well, I guess I have to come up with something my Photo II kids can do with the 3D printer too.  

So, hopefully, I will find a workshop in Amsterdam and come back with some fabulous ideas to use during the remainder of the school year.