Three-dimensional printer: $18,900. Laser engraver: $24,000. The irony that they’re both locked up and collecting dust at Garfield: priceless.

Originally, both pieces of equipment were supposed to be part of a new pre-engineering class at Garfield: Project Lead the Way (PLTW). Theoretically, the class would offer Garfield students a uniquely engaging, hands-on introduction to engineering.

“The district picks and chooses what programs it wants to invest in,” says Principal Ted Howard II. “When the building was renovated, it was decided that Garfield would implement Project Lead the Way, so [the district] went out and bought all the materials.”

In addition to purchasing the 3D printer and the laser engraver, the district also invested in a robotic arm, nearly 30 robots, and other costly technology.

“We have a whole bunch of equipment that’s ostensibly to teach students about beginning engineering concepts,” says Helene Martin, who teaches the new creative computing and computer science classes at Garfield.

According to Martin’s estimates, the total value of the equipment may exceed $200,000.

Unfortunately, PLTW never became fully operational at Garfield. The curriculum demands a teacher with a strong engineering background.

“We couldn’t find anyone that would actually teach PLTW,” says Howard. “We ended up going through five or six teachers.”

According to Howard, these teachers lacked the background necessary to teach or were unwilling to teach the PLTW curriculum. Ultimately, the district decided to offer computer science as a substitute.

“There’s a lot in computer science that you would get from a pre-engineering program,” says Martin. “You have critical thinking, you have hands-on applied knowledge, and you have a lot of tie-in from math and science.”

Moreover, the new computer science classes are economically viable.

“There’s no equipment need,” says Martin. “My operation is free; my software is free; basically everything I’m doing is free.”

Garfield’s replacement computer programming class also avoids some of the other drawbacks of PLTW curricula.

“PLTW programs try to cater to people that are more vocational as well as to people that are more academic,” says Martin. “But trying to be somewhere in the middle generally means it ends up catering to nobody.”

Another concern that Martin has with PLTW curricula is that it suffers from the amount of prep time required for student use of the machinery.

“Realistically, it’ll take three weeks to complete safety training for a class of at least 26 students,” says Martin. “How much time is anyone going to have on the laser engraver?”

Howard also seems to lean in favor of Garfield’s new computer programming classes.

“The Career and Technical Education department did a survey,” says Howard. “Turns out, what the students are really interested in is programming and computer science.”

Still, Howard hopes that PLTW’s pre-engineering class will soon be offered at Garfield.

“The district really wants us to do [PLTW],” says Howard. “We’ll just have to see what happens with the budget.”

But for Garfield to offer PLTW’s pre-engineering class, it will need to find a teacher.

“The only person in the building that has that background is Mr. [Alan] Carpenter,” says Howard. “I hope that next year we will be able to get PLTW off the ground, but it will take someone that is very invested in the building.”

One day, students may be able to use the 3D printer or the laser engraver, but until that day, PLTW isn’t going to be very “hands-on” after all.