During their Bioengineering elective, Middle School students have been working hard to create prosthetic hands for children. To begin their learning, students completed an activity to help understand how it feels to do basic daily tasks without one of their hands. They then researched and partnered with e-NABLE, a group of volunteers that helps people who are missing fingers or hands for any variety of reasons. After downloading the CAD templates and 3D printing the pieces in the IDEA Lab, students follow directions to assemble the hands, which are even capable of grasping items. Once Cook becomes fully certified by e-NABLE, students will be able to locate children nearby who need a prosthetic, take custom measurements, and send them a functional hand free of charge.
Service Learning
Catherine Cook encourages students to form an understanding of challenges in our local and global communities, develop empathy for those involved, and be changemakers. Spanning social, environmental, and other causes, students demonstrate critical thinking, compassion, and action as they make a real world impact.
Each year, the Catherine Cook community coordinates with the Alliance for the Great Lakes to clean up North Avenue Beach. Community members of all ages come together in support of our environment and to keep our city looking its best. It’s a great way to introduce service learning for our youngest students, and it’s a great way for families to come together to make change.
Inspired by the personal interest of one student, Middle School students completed a service trip to the Greater Chicago Food Depository where they spent two hours packaging food for local Chicagoans in need. They then learned about the impact of their work as the GCFD supervisors shared statistics about how many families they would feed thanks to their help.
Catherine Cook has had a longstanding partnership with UCAN, a local organization that supports youth and families through youth development, mental health assistance, therapeutic schools, and violence prevention. Cook holds an annual book drive to support the UCAN Take-Home Library, which is supported by Middle School advisories and has provided thousands of books to families at UCAN. This relationship has also crossed over to the faculty/staff community as they convened at one of UCAN’s schools to paint murals in their calm spaces.