TROY – Albie at Boone Elementary School is getting some fresh gear.

The new stuff isn’t coming from an online retailer or a shop at the mall. Albie, a tiny gecko, is getting custom accessories created by the school’s STEM Club’s state-of-the-art 3D printers.

“I like that we can go out of our way and make whatever we want. We may make a lot of stuff for (Albie),” said Lyla Hoehn, a fifth grader at the school.

Outfitting little reptiles might not have been top of mind when Toyota Missouri announced a $35,000 grant to support exciting STEM education initiatives in Lincoln County R-III School District, but with smart, creative kids at the controls, you just never know.

For the last 30 years, Toyota Missouri has partnered with local schools in a continuing effort to help students achieve academic success and develop skills that will last long after they leave the classroom.

The plant will provide the district with funding to purchase 14 3D printers, much like the one Lyla and her classmates will be using, for each of the district’s eight elementary schools.

These printers create three-dimensional objects from digital files. They work by laying down successive layers of material until an entire object forms. These 3D printers offer students a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of creativity, technology, and problem-solving.

Toyota Missouri pledged to work with teachers and visit classrooms and share how they use these machines in manufacturing and in other fields.

“Our teachers and educators are doing critical work, and we are proud to stand by them,” said Zach Loftsgard, a Senior Manager at Toyota Missouri who helped lead the initiative to make these machines available for the schools. “With this grant, we know we are helping them fulfill their mission by making sure they have the resources to make their classrooms fun places where kids are excited to learn.”

For younger learners, Toyota Missouri will help fund new STEM kits for pre-K students to build and code DASH robots. Programing these machines to move, light up, and perform basic tasks is not only fun, but it will also help kids understand the basics of robotics and coding.

Toyota Missouri also allocated funding to the Lincoln County R-III Education Foundation, which gives grants directly to teachers.

“Thanks to our partnership with Toyota Missouri, LCR3 students will now have the exciting opportunity to experience 3D printing technology as early as kindergarten,” said Dr. James Bertels, Instructional Technology Coordinator for the school district. “This initiative not only expands upon the existing 3D printing programs in our secondary buildings but also empowers our youngest learners to unleash their creativity while cultivating innovative thinking skills.”