Community Engagement

T3 Alliance

Our communities need unique, place-based solutions.

Community engagement is the opportunity for students, teachers and local community members (comprised of businesses, non-profits, and families) to use technology skills and Growth Mindset to design creative solutions aimed at local concerns. Unique from other programs, T3 Alliance adaptable framework expands the outcomes past classroom technology to reach deep into our local communities.

What does community engagement look like?

Sustainable, Locally Grown Food – Grow Towers

Students learned about, build and automat small versions of the Automated Vertical Bucket Grow Tower. Their journey included a visit to Chena GreenHouse operations. Here they were given an introduction to the original Vertical Bucket Lettuce Grow Tower design developed by Chena Hot Springs. After Chena Hot Springs the students participated a 2-day workshop run in partnership with a Natural Resource Education Specialist, partners from Future Farmers of America, and Yukon Farms. The students learned new vocabulary and understanding around the programming and automation concepts and components of the grow towers with T3 instructor lead training. T3 Alliance program coordinated the community partnerships, student learning environments, curriculum and supplies to enable this collaborate learning opportunity.

Grow-tower
Watch Video

Environmental Threats – Puerto Rico Raspberry Shake

Since the December 28th 2019, Puerto Rico has been afflicted by an ongoing earthquake swarm causing havoc for the local community.  The most powerful and damaging earthquake from this swarm was a magnitude 6.4, which occurred on January 7th 2020, devastating communities and leaving many without homes. The constant shaking continues today, with thousands of strongly-felt magnitude 3.0-4.5 earthquakes occurring since last year.

Show more...

The project goal was to assist high school students install and program multiple Raspberry Shake educational seismographs, and set up real time earthquake alarm systems at their schools. The trip was a resounding success. Before leaving, we were able to set up a system to tweet out real time event notifications. With the help of an amazing team of educators, these incredible students were able to have access to the right resources at the right time, and be able to make a meaningful, lasting impact on their community.

Full Project Details

Turning a Crisis into an Educational Opportunity

For six months in 2018 Lava flowed out of a fissure on the eastern side of Hawaii Island. The eruption was significant in the lives of all the residents on the island. Residents were advised to shelter in place or evacuate to shelters due to the effects of the eruption. Empowered with their newly minted skillsets, Upward Bound students decided to apply their classroom activities beyond academic learning and into a more practical and needed application.

Show more...

During the six weeks Upward Bound summer program at the University of Hawaii Hilo, 17 T3 Alliance students from high schools around the island designed and installed an air quality detection system for the residents of East Hawaii. The students had no special pre-qualifications and met each day for about two hours with three instructors. Using the T3 Alliance curriculum, introduced them to programming Raspberry Pi Devices within a design thinking context. By the third week, students had developed projects for the admissions department at the university and were asked to take on some of the problems associated with the eruption affecting the community. In a matter of days, students were speaking with both community members and experts in the air quality at the USGS, Department of Health, and at lead research institutions across the country. During the fifth and sixth weeks, students installed and tested the network of air quality meters that were providing real-time information to residents of the affected regions.

Read Article

Previous:  STEM Technology  |  Next: Summer Program

Back To Top