Hearlihy Community

Drafting 101

Ashlei — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:58:00 GMT

Drafting is a "language" that precisely communicates information such as shape and size. The goal is a finished product that matches the design.

Introduction to Drafting

Look around you. Everything you see that is made by humans – buildings, furniture, the light switch on the wall, your computer, the cola can on your desk, the car on the road, and the road itself – and many things you can’t see – the memory chip inside your computer, the plumbing and wiring in the walls of your building, the machinery of the HVAC system – have one thing in common: they all started out as drawings.

An old adage says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Nowhere is this truer than in manufacturing and construction. Product designers use mechanical drawings to communicate the details of their designs.

Architectural drafters convey exact specifications to builders using detailed drawings called blueprints. Transportation drafters use technical drawings to show the location and design of new roads.

Across cultures and language barriers, a detailed drawing communicates a designer's exact specifications to the skilled craftsmen who will build the product.

How Drafters Make their Drawings

For many years, drafters sat at drawing boards and used drafting tools such as pencils, pens, compasses, protractors, triangles, and T squares to prepare drawings. Most drafters now use Computer-Aided Drafting (CAD) programs to produce their drawings. CAD speeds up the drawing process and permits drafters to change drawings quickly and easily. However, CAD is only a tool; people who produce technical drawings with CAD still need the knowledge of traditional drafters.

A draftsman at work.

Types of Drafting

Drafting work has many specialties. Here are some of them.

Aeronautical drafters prepare engineering drawings, detailing plans and specifications used in the manufacture of aircraft, missiles, and related parts.

Architectural drafters draw architectural and structural features of buildings and other structures. These workers may specialize in a type of structure, such as residential or commercial, or in a kind of material used, such as reinforced concrete, masonry, steel, or timber.

Civil drafters prepare drawings and topographical and relief maps used in major construction or civil engineering projects such as highways, bridges, pipelines, flood control projects, and water and sewage systems.

Electrical drafters prepare wiring and layout diagrams used by workers who erect, install, and repair electrical equipment and wiring in communication centers, power plants, electrical distribution systems, and buildings.

Electronics drafters draw wiring diagrams, circuit board assembly diagrams, schematics, and layout drawings used in the manufacture, installation, and repair of electronic devices and components.

Mechanical drafters prepare drawings showing the detail and assembly of a wide variety of machinery and mechanical devices, indicating dimensions, fastening methods, and other requirements.

Process piping or pipeline drafters prepare drawings used in the layout, construction, and operation of oil and gas fields, refineries, chemical plants, and process piping systems.

Skills Review by a First-Time Attendee

Ashlei — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:29:00 GMT

One word - amazing!

That's it. That sums up the entire conference, amazing!

No, really though, I have been with the company for a year now and I attend mostly Pitsco conventions, which are great and we meet a lot of great teachers, which I love to do. This is the first show that I was able to meet a lot of really great students and wow, was I impressed.

I am on the Tech Prep technical committee for Skills and helped with that event on Thursday, which was, well, amazing! We had 78 student teams from all over the United States - the best of the best. The judges had a very tough job. Some of the projects the teams had come up with were top quality, and then how they integrated their projects to benefit their community or school (a requirement of Tech Prep) was remarkable.

Preparing for Tech Prep on Tuesday, I was able to venture out of the booth to check out the rest of the convention and watch the preparation begin for all of the competitions that were to ensue. In Bartle Hall, the entire hall was filled with every competition you could imagine. From plumbing, airplane engine repair, body work on auto fenders, robotics, house construction, cooking, CPR, hair dressing... it seemed like every skill was represented.

My most memorable experience from the conference came from within the Hearlihy/Pitsco booth. We had the Apprentice Screen Printing package in the booth, printing T-shirts. A group of three students came up to Kevin Bolte, who is a sales rep for Hearlihy and was in the booth with me. They appeared to be high school students.

One of them stepped forward and started asking questions about the screen printing machine. Since it was my first time witnessing the screen printing machine and I had questions myself that I hadn't been able to ask yet, I quickly tuned in to hear the conversation. Kevin didn't get stumped with the line of questioning that followed, but he very easily could have. I was amazed. I assumed the inquisitive student was in the screen printing competition, so after their conversation ended, I intercepted the young man and asked, "Are you part of the screen printing competition?" He answered no. "Does your school have a screen printing program?" Again he said no. I asked how he knew so much about screen printing, and he said that he had bought himself a starter screen printing package and was looking to upgrade.

Screen printing wasn't even his expertise; his competition was in construction at the national level. He was using his screen printing package to print T-shirts for the school and for other programs and businesses as a side activity. He designs the graphics and does all of this work and taught himself how to be an expert at it just for fun, not for a grade, not for a medal, not for recognition, but because he was an amazing student. I expressed how impressed I was to this young man, he thanked me, and I wished him the best of luck with his competition.

I'm sure every student there could have left me with that same impression. Working for an education company, you don't get a lot of chances to make a connection with the students you are working so hard for. When you finally do get to meet one, you can only hope that the experience will be as amazing as the one I had.

Volunteers, sponsors key at SkillsUSA

Ashlei — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:24:00 GMT

Take away corporate sponsors and volunteers, and the largest annual conference in Kansas City likely would not exist. The second day of SkillsUSA Championships, slated for June 23-24, is considered the single greatest day of industry volunteerism in America.

Nearly 2,000 volunteers, officials, and judges from business and industry invest about 60,000 hours of their time during that week to ensure that the more than 5,600 student competitors in 96 hands-on skill and leadership contests enjoy a memorable experience at the national event.

Hearlihy, a division of Pitsco Education and longtime leading provider of drafting supplies, is a sponsor of the Architectural Drafting competition, which attracts about 75 competitors who are state champions at the secondary and postsecondary levels.

Hearlihy is donating an Architect/Engineer Drafting Kit for the top three placers in each of the two divisions and is providing eraser shields and drafting pencils for all contestants.

"We are proud to be a part of the architectural drafting competition through SkillsUSA," said Hearlihy Representative Kevin Bolte. "This organization has done a tremendous job cultivating student interest in so many career fields. We're happy to play a small part in the national championships."

The Architectural Drafting event is cochaired by Tom Bendorf and Marie Boatright. Boatright, a senior project architect with Wellner Architects, Inc., in Kansas City, helps procure prizes and participation rewards for all competitors, as well as writes the drafting problem statement that students must address during the competition.

"It is extremely important to have corporate partners such as Hearlihy, Autodesk, Chief Architect, and others," Boatright said. "We have a limited budget for our competition." In addition to the Hearlihy prizes, first-place finishers will receive a laptop, and all top-three finishers will be given textbooks, software, and other donated items.

For years, Boatright attended the SkillsUSA Championships with her parents, who serve as volunteers, and in 2007 she served as a judge in the Architectural Drafting competition. She's never looked back and doesn't mind using vacation days to work with some of the top aspiring architects in the country.

"It doesn't surprise me as much as it warms my heart to see that there are young people who have such great talents and care to do great work," Boatright said. "The entries by the winners are usually of a very high quality. To be a winner in Architectural Drafting, you have to know your craft."

Learn more about SkillsUSA. Check out other news from Pitsco Education, LEGO Education, or Hearlihy at our online newsroom.

Homeschool Solutions for Drafting Students

Ashlei — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:15:00 GMT

Hearlihy is a drafting student's paradise. We have a large selection of affordable drafting equipment, tools, paper, and other related supplies. Whether you teach large classes of drafting students or your students are homeschooled, we have a kit that fits your need. Each student has his or her own preferences when it comes to drafting supplies, and we can customize kits for a classroom or an individual.

We offer Rhino CAD Software for homeschool students and have a full line of reasonably priced drafting, blueprint reading, architectural design, and engineering books. Our products have a wealth of support material for homeschool parents who may need assistance with teaching their students drafting.

For a contextual lesson, have your student draft a set of blueprints and then build their design with our dimensioned lumber. We also carry house/structure building kits that are perfect hands-on projects. Building green is easy to teach with our selection of green architecture house kits, books, and videos.

You can view the homeschool products for drafting that we suggest here. To receive our catalog and check out the many products we carry, click here.

Why Teach Hands-On?

Ashlei — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 20:52:00 GMT

At Pitsco, we obviously believe that hands-on learning is a crucial component to a classroom in order to reach all types of students. But did you know that many research studies confirm the benefits? Following are a few findings from various studies in the past 20 years:

A Purdue University study has found that the best way to get students interested in engineering and technology at an early age may be to focus less on textbooks and more on interactive, problem-solving design projects. According to one of the leaders of the study, "In every area we tested, the students who were involved in a hands-on project learned more and demonstrated a deeper understanding of the issues than the traditional group. This is a significant finding because it proves that with some students - especially groups traditionally underrepresented in science and engineering- the book-and-lecture format may not be the best way to engage student learning." (Purdue University. 2009.http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2009a/090128DarkStudy.html)
The studies conducted to date indicate that laboratory experiences and other forms of instruction show a greater effectiveness compared with more traditional forms of science instruction for the following goals: improving mastery of subject matter, developing scientific reasoning, and cultivating interest in science. (America's Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science. 2005. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11311&page=1).
Students who practice what they're learning in a hands-on environment can often retain three and a half times as much as opposed to just sitting in a lecture room and listening intently. (Everest Career Education Network. 2010. http://news.everest.edu/post/2010/01/top-5-benefits-of-a-hands-on-learning-environment.)
A 1999 study showed on PET scans that hands-on learning stimulates two different memory systems in the brain that become linked together. These systems recall factual memory and even memory of the hands-on process. By activating both, students have a greater likelihood of remembering what they studied with less need for role learning. (Mindful Learning: 101 Proven Strategies for Student and Teacher Success. 2009. Study by Andreason et al., 1999).
As neurologist Willis (2006) observed, when students learn through hearing, seeing, doing, and touching, they psychologically absorb or become the information. (Mindful Learning: 101 Proven Strategies for Student and Teacher Success. 2009.)
Another rationale for active learning is simply the nature of contemporary society. Today's students are immersed in a fast-paced, multimedia-drenched world. They can access large amounts of information from many sources, decreasing a reliance on teacher-directed classrooms. Multisensory, interactive, self-directed approaches are essential for student and teacher success. (Mindful Learning: 101 Proven Strategies for Student and Teacher Success. 2009.)
Students in a hands-on science program will remember the material better, feel a sense of accomplishment when the task is completed, and be able to transfer that experience easier to other learning situations. (Perspectives on Hands-On Teaching. Haury and Rillero. 1994.)
A survey of six-thousand students in introductory physics courses found that students in courses involving interactive engagement made substantial gains in problem solving abilities as well as the learning of physics. (Socratic Pedagogy in the Introductory Physics Laboratory. 1992.)
Study of middle and high school science found 140 published comparisons between traditional teaching and alternative instruction (inquiry oriented approach). Inquiry instructional strategies averaged thirteen percentile points higher in achievement measure over traditional text lecture modes of instruction. (Strategies for Teaching Science: What Works? 1996.)

Survey Shows that Parents Need Help Talking Science with their Children

Ashlei — Fri, 21 May 2010 14:32:00 GMT

How many teachers reading this wish that your students' parents had more opportunities to get their children involved in science? Well, you are not alone. According to a recent survey, 500 teachers were asked that similar question and 94% of them agreed. In the same survey, though, more than half of the 506 parents involved in the survey acknowledged they could use more help to assist their child's knowledge in science.

The survey, conducted by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, revealed that only 15% of the parents considered science a subject they felt "most comfortable" talking to their children about. This information is in agreement with the 77% of teachers that said that parents don't feel comfortable talking about science with their children. So, what are parents to do?

The NSTA Science Matters initiative Web site has a great list of tips available to parents who need some ideas on how to engage their children in science. The list includes activities such as going to the zoo and museums, talking about science-related news stories that happen in the world around them, and doing science experiments at home.

Pitsco Education is unique in the fact that it is not exclusive to teachers or schools with large orders. We cater to anyone that has an interest in hands-on STEM products. Parents, please feel free to browse our Web site for ideas and activities that you might want to do with your kids. Most of our products are available in single kits as well as class packs.

If you would like to receive our catalog, please click here. To view the press release on the survey, visit http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-05/gn-nsf050710.php. To read more tips from Science Matters, visit http://www.nsta.org/sciencematters/tips.aspx.

Alternative thinking leads to new T-Bot design

Ashlei — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:50:00 GMT

The beauty of learning hands on is that it encourages alternative thinking - thinking that leads outside of the textbook or outside of the classroom even. It opens possibilities and provides experience and a deeper understanding. Hands-on learning allows students to come up with alternative solutions and recognize that there is more than one way to do the same thing.

The Pitsco T-Bot II is a very amazing educational tool, teaching students the concepts of hydraulics, simple machines, and the fundamentals of robotics. It consists of a series of syringes and tubes that, when filled with water, control the movement of laser-cut pieces connected together to make a robotic arm.

This product, like most of the Pitsco products, comes unassembled, and the students build the T-Bot II to perform activities with the completed hydraulic arm. A STEM video and a Teacher's Guide are available that help both the teacher and the students to use this product.

Last month we asked teachers to send in activities, to both Pitsco and Hearlihy, that they have created using our products to share with other teachers. We received a really innovative idea using the T-Bot II as a guide that we wanted to share.

This version of the T-Bot II comes from Don Butler at Maize High School. Don, we appreciate your sharing your idea with us. Thank you for providing a hands-on experience for your students, and I hope that Pitsco will continue to inspire you to create alternative forms of learning and thinking. Don wrote about his creation and provided the images below.

I developed this head and used the same principles as the T-Bot II hydraulic arm. The whole head rotates, the head moves up and down, the mouth opens and shuts, and the eyes rotate. It still needs tweaking but was enjoyed by my robotics class. It took two-plus weeks to construct. I made patterns for the individual parts and supplied students a set of pre-sized plywood pieces and a bag of needed hardware. They did the cutting, sanding, and assembly. I am currently working on an eagle that will work on the same basic principle but on a 3-D format.

Share your activities with other teachers and we will post them on this blog. Send them to Product-Tips@hearlihy.com.

Pitsco Joins Facebook

Ashlei — Fri, 07 May 2010 20:27:00 GMT

If you have ever picked up any of our great catalogs and mailed in the order form, you might have noticed that Pitsco is located in beautiful Pittsburg, Kan. That's right, Kansas. Though Kansas is centrally located in the continental United States, it doesn't mean we have a lot of opportunity to see our customers, nor do our customers get to see us.

We do get to see our customers at the conventions we attend every year, and we are grateful for that. Being able to visit with our customers is always a great experience, but we wanted a way to be in contact with even more customers and meet even more teachers and educators. How were we going to do that being in Kansas?

So, we decided to join Facebook. Why not? What better way to get to know our customers and for our customers to get to know us? We hope that this will be a great way for customers to find out the latest in education news and get links to great resources and various promotions, contests, and of course funny pictures. Who doesn't love funny pictures?

So, check out our page, become a fan, look at our pictures, tell your friends, and get to know us. We'd love to get to know you too!

Our page is at http://www.facebook.com/PitscoEducation. You can also follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/pitscoed.

Building Your Classroom

Ashlei — Wed, 05 May 2010 20:28:00 GMT

Whether you are looking to supplement your drafting supply closet or launch a technical drafting program, we have everything needed to build your classroom. Not every class is the same, so we have a large range of products to complement any classroom.

Complete drafting kits are available at affordable prices. We've combined our best products into a convenient kit. If you don't find the prepackaged kit that you want, we can customize a kit for you. So, you can create a unique kit that is exactly what your students need.

Our drafting machines come in a variety of sizes, and our parallel rules are designed for smooth movement. We have an assortment of quality drafting tables and flat file storage systems for your classroom. The Archi-Board and Perspective Drawing Board are excellent teaching tools to introduce perspective drawing or help students that are struggling with the concept of vanishing points.

We offer a full line of software, workbooks, and videos to enhance your lesson plan and provide a mixture of support material for drafting, engineering, and architectural design. Consumable supplies are reasonably priced and are readily available to ship as needed.

Building your classroom doesn't have to be complicated. We are here to recommend the perfect drafting product for your particular requests and assist with anything you need.

Call our friendly customer service team at 866-622-1003 or e-mail any questions to Product-Tips@hearlihy.com.

We Want to Hear from You

Ashlei — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:39:00 GMT

Hearlihy is challenging all classrooms across the United States to find new and exciting ways to get students energized!

How do you and your students use Hearlihy products? Have you developed a great lesson for the Straw Bale House Kit? Maybe you've implemented a new way to learn from the Apprentice Screen Printing Package or have a new technique to test the strength of a balsa bridge?

If you are a teacher, home educator, after-school program director, or otherwise working with students (K-12) within the education field, submit your activity or activities for us to post and share on hearlihy.com. To submit your activities, simply e-mail them to Product-Tips@hearlihy.com.

Pitsco Cares

Ashlei — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 18:23:00 GMT

For almost 40 years, Pitsco Education has been known for providing hands-on learning in the classroom. Our kits are designed to allow students to learn by doing. We are devoted to being an active part of student and teacher success. As a company, we use in our own community the same hands-on approach that we encourage in the classroom.

Since the beginning, Pitsco has supported local and national organizations by providing funding or products. Pitsco continues to give back, and in addition to giving financially, Pitsco has encouraged its nearly 200 employees to give of themselves by supplying volunteers - providing hands-on giving, if you will.

Pitsco Cares, an internal campaign, was formed a little more than a year ago and offers an excellent source for employees to give back to our community. Our Pitsco Cares team actively seeks out where help is needed and recruits employees to give of their time and talents to help fill that need in our community.

Whether it is hands-on learning in the classroom or hands-on giving in the community, Pitsco encourages getting active and making a difference.

Higher Salaries for Engineers in High Demand

Ashlei — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 15:33:00 GMT

The following article from The Star Ledger, reported that according to a national survey, companies are willing to pay higher salaries for Engineers who are in high demand.

College students graduating with math-related degrees this year are expected to command the highest starting salaries, according to a national survey released yesterday.

Engineering disciplines dominated the list of top-paid bachelor's degrees, occupying eight of 10 spots in the National Association of Colleges and Employer's quarterly rankings. The remaining two spots went to computer science and information sciences and systems. Despite the recession, these technical majors are flourishing because demand continues to outstrip supply, association officials said.

Petroleum engineering, the leading major for several years running, secured an average starting salary of $86,220, up 6 percent from last year. Meanwhile, the average starting salary for all bachelor's degree graduates fell 2 percent, to $48,351, the association said.

"There are fewer and fewer of these technical graduates each year, and companies are willing to offer them higher salaries just because their numbers are so limited," said Andrea Koncz, employment information manager at the Bethlehem, Pa.-based association.

Petroleum engineers, for example, currently account for less than 1 percent of the 1.4 million bachelor's students who graduate in the country each year. And, according to a 2007 study by the association, the national pool of engineering majors has shrunk by 2 percent a year - even as other disciplines such as psychology, communications and performing arts have seen increases.

But the rankings came as no surprise to the association, which has conducted the quarterly poll since 1960.

So why aren't more college students flocking to these majors? "We found students are more influenced by what they like to do," she said, "as opposed to making a lot of money."

Custom Drafting Kits

Ashlei — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:27:00 GMT

We have the capability to customize any kit the way you want it. If the drafting kits we have available are not exactly what you need, we can assemble custom kits from any of the products shown in our catalog and on the Web site! The items you select come to you as individual kits ready to distribute to your students. Your kit is assigned a unique identifying number and can be reordered as often as needed. Here's how to get a quote:

If you have a catalog, list the products for your kit on the order form on the last page of the catalog.
Check Request for custom kit quote at the top of the form.
Provide your name and telephone number.
Fax your request to 800-443-2260.
We'll call you to finalize the order and provide you your custom kit price.

If you do not have a catalog order form, please call 866-622-1003. To request a catalog, please click here.

Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery of custom kits.

International Technology Education Association 2010

Ashlei — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:12:00 GMT

We will be in Charlotte, N.C., at the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) convention from March 18-19. If you are planning to attend, we'd love to have you stop by and see us at Booths 403 and 405.

Green architecture, sustainability focus of Hearlihy kits, books, more

Ashlei — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:42:00 GMT

Green construction is much more than placing a solar panel on a house. Techniques used worldwide are more natural and sustainable than the typical home construction in the U.S. Hearlihy has committed to green architecture and construction with a line of kits that explore these techniques:

Rammed-Earth House Kit – Use the most ancient construction material, soil, to create strong, dense walls that go up quickly and reduce heat and noise transfer.
Straw-Bale House Kit – Using Styrofoam blocks in place of straw bales, build straw-bale walls and cover them with “stucco.” This method is ideal for earthquake-prone areas and provides excellent thermal insulation.
Earth-Sheltered House Kit – Learn to use the ground to provide a home with natural insulation as well as protection from high winds, tornadoes, and hurricanes.

These kits supply students with a hands-on experience building a 1/2-inch scale model home using minimal lumber and incorporating nature into the heating and cooling systems. Each kit includes materials, plans, and illustrated instructions. Turn to Green Architecture: Living, Design, and Construction to expand student understanding of these building techniques, the toxicity of standard building materials, energy usage, the Smart House, and other related topics. Written by Paul Wallach, this is a solid introductory text to building green.

More in-depth information can be found in the books The Rammed Earth House, The Straw Bale House, and The Philosophy of Sustainable Design. Related video programs include Building with Awareness and design e².

Beyond architecture and construction, Hearlihy incorporates alternative energy by offering a variety of solar, wind, and fuel cell kits, equipment, videos, and books. Learn more about these green kits and resources.

Check out other news from Pitsco Education at our online newsroom.

Influences for STEMM Careers

Ashlei — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:33:00 GMT

At Hearlihy and Pitsco, we focus a great deal of our attention on current students and teachers and aiding in their success, but we also are very interested in tomorrow's engineers, scientists, and mathematicians and how we can help them get there.

Professors at Michigan State University conducted research that looked at what influences students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine (STEMM). According to Jon Miller, MSU Hannah Professor of Integrative Studies, "the pathway to a STEMM career begins at home". The research also confirmed how mathematics plays a critical role in the course of a STEMM career.

To read more about Miller's findings check out http://news.msu.edu/story/7489/.

To read the full published study from MSU check out http://news.msu.edu/media/documents/2010/02/79874644-d2cb-4def-a17f-e67cc27b929d.pdf

Hearlihy Green Architecture House Kits

Ashlei — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:06:00 GMT

Going green is not a new concept. Most people have heard this term, know what it means, and hopefully are at least trying or adapting to this new way of life. Not only is going green not a new concept, it can be described in other ways as well. Eco-friendly and environmentally conscious are just a few of the other commonly used descriptions.

There is more than one way to describe it, but there are even more ways to practice it, to live it. This includes anything from taking public transportation to driving hybrid cars, from recycling plastic bottles and plastic grocery bags to using reusable bottles and reusable grocery bags.

At Hearlihy, we have several green architecture house kits to show students how to build green. Hearlihy offers Rammed-Earth House Kits, Straw-Bale House Kits, and Earth-Sheltered House Kits, but as expected there are a lot of additional ways to build green.

And green buildings can be more than just energy-efficient and environmentally friendly; they can also look good. Check out the following links to view some very attractive green architecture homes and see how they work.

Rammed Earth

Straw Bale

Earth Sheltered

For a full listing of our green products visit our green education product line.

Annual Survey Shows What Students Think About STEM

Ashlei — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:53:00 GMT

If you had to guess what students between the ages of 12 and 17 think about STEM, what do you think they would say? According to the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index survey, 77% of the students involved in the survey said that they were excited about those subjects and were considering a STEM career.

If that news wasn't good enough, 66% of the students, whether individually or in a group, said they enjoyed hands-on projects most. Do you know what this means? We have students who want to use their hands, getting involved in the lesson and understanding what they are being taught. It also means that hands-on activities in the classroom could lead to tinkering, which could lead to inventing and engineering.

The survey found that in addition to hands-on learning students were interested in nontraditional settings. The survey also showed that students wished they knew more about STEM and that teachers' being excited about STEM would help them to get excited about it too.

With programs such as the Lemelson-MIT program (which encourages inventors and innovators) and the presidential campaign Educate to Innovate (which aims to increase the student's involvement in science, technology, engineering, and math) in our corner, next year's survey results may be even higher.

To read more about the survey results, check out http://mit.edu/invent/n-pressreleases/n-press-10index.html.

Check out some of our best-seller hands-on kits:

Ortho Box

Wood Framing

Straw-Bale House

Pitsco Inc. Numbers for 2009

Ashlei — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 21:12:00 GMT

43 - workshops held in Pittsburg, KS and on-site
346 - teachers who attended Pitsco Education and Star Academy workshops
391 - airline tickets for employees to travel to conventions or on-site visits
52,099 - orders processed by Pitsco Education Catalog, Hearlihy, and LEGO® Education
65,000 - Call Center calls
252,053 - boxes shipped
410,000 - 8-gram CO² cartridges sold
796,342 - miles flown by employees to conventions or on-site visits
2,651,277 - weight in pounds of all items shipped
7,461,966 - number of students who have used our products for the course of the year

Race to the Top

Ashlei — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:00:00 GMT

With 4.35 billion dollars up for grabs, I bet there are a lot of people who know what deadline took place this week. But if you didn't know about it and are worried that you missed the opportunity, you still have another chance. Don't worry; there is a second deadline.

For those of you who haven't heard about it, Race to the Top is a grant program set in place by the government in conjunction with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The ARRA was signed into law on February 17, 2009, and one of the many purposes of the ARRA is to invest in education.

The Race to the Top fund is a way to reward states who have the best plan for creating, achieving, and improving education for student success. There are four core education reform areas that need to be considered in the states' plan:

Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy
Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction
Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most
Turning around our lowest-achieving schools

States have to apply for the grant by filling out an application. The application indicates their plan if they are awarded a grant. The deadline for applications for Phase 1 was January 19, 2010. Phase 1 awards will be announced in April 2010. The Phase 2 applications are due June 1, 2010, and Phase 2 awards will be announced in September 2010.

The applications are reviewed and given points for the required selected criteria. The following shows what percentages of points are available in each criterion.

State Success Factors: 25%

Standards and Assessments: 14%

Data Systems to Support Instruction: 9%

Great Teachers and Leaders: 28%

Turning Around the Lowest-Achieving Schools: 10%

General Selection Criteria: 11%

STEM: 3%

So, if you missed the Phase 1 deadline, you still have time to prepare your Phase 2 applications, and if you are not awarded a grant in Phase 1, you can reapply for Phase 2.

We wish the best of luck to all states. What a great opportunity to receive some much-needed funds for a very justifiable investment. Every student and every teacher in every state deserves it!

Why Are There Fewer Woman Engineers?

Ashlei — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:51:00 GMT

After much research, I didn't know how I was going to answer this question, so I started compiling a list. I took a little bit from here and a little bit from there to put forth my best explanation.

The facts are that in 2001, only 20% of the earned engineering degrees were by women, and in 2007, only 18% of earned engineering degrees were by women, a decrease. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/pdf/tabc-4.pdf In 2007, only 11% of women made up the engineering workforce. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/figh-1.htm

Why is this? In most other areas of study and skill, with the exception of computer sciences, women are neck and neck with men. One explanation is that girls don't tinker. Tinkering is a stepping stone to engineering. Tinkering enables students to work on something and figure out on their own the whys and hows and to consider what ifs. There's no instruction, just natural curiosity.

So why do boys tinker and girls don't? Is it because boys are naturally curious and girls are often task oriented? Is it because boys are allowed to do things for themselves and girls let others do things for them? Is it because boys learn by doing and girls learn by listening and watching? Is it because men see a broken toaster as a problem that needs to be solved and women ask how the toaster broke?

Another explanation for why there are fewer woman engineers may be as simple as our parent's involvement. A research study shows that the number one influence on a girl's education future is her parents. Parents encourage their daughters to help people, teach people. Engineering isn't often viewed as a way to help people even though that's exactly what it does.

The way engineering is viewed leads into the next explanation. Girls may view the image of engineering as geeky, I think simply because they don't know what else to compare it to except the common stereotype. When someone hears "doctor", people get that even though there are a ton of different kinds of doctors; whether someone is a podiatrist or a cardiologist, he or she helps people get better. When girls hear "engineer", they may not know what that means or what it entails or understand that some kinds of engineers design tools that doctors can use to help make people better.

The word engineer may be too broad, especially when girls can pick careers like nurse, teacher, manager, or therapist and understand what those careers mean by just the name itself. And this may go back to the basics. Boys hear the word engineer, and they question what that is; girls hear the word and listen for someone to tell them what it means. If they don't hear the explanation or aren't introduced to women engineers so that they can have a role model, they probably will decide to do something else.

My last explanation is that socially girls aren't targeted for engineering jobs, just like boys aren't often targeted for nursing jobs. I was watching a commercial for a technical school a couple days ago. It showed images of men drawing up the plans of a house, men gathering the supplies to make the house, and men building the house. The very last scene was of a woman with her kids in her finished home. I had already started planning this blog at the time, so I was more aware of the impression it left me with, but the point is still there.

Have I answered the question? Why are there fewer woman engineers? Probably all of these explanations are contributing factors, and I've probably forgotten a couple more. As women, we've made massive strides and continue to break ground and make history every year. I can't help but be hopeful that soon my question won't be relevant anymore.

2010 Conferences

Ashlei — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:06:00 GMT

Just because 2009 isn't over yet, doesn't mean we aren't busy planning for 2010. We are going to be attending some great conferences next year, and we would like the opportunity to meet you there.

Come see us at:

FETC - January 12-15 - Orlando, FL - Booth 114

ITEA - March 18-20 - Charlotte, NC

SkillsUSA TECHSPO - June 22-24 - Kansas City, MO

HSTW - July 14-17 - Louisville, KY

NMSA - November 4-6 - Baltimore, MD

ACTE - December 2-4 - Las Vegas, NV

Email blast hint: Read the first sentence of the "About Hearlihy" tab on the Hearlihy web site.

Locating and Applying for Grants

Ashlei — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:01:00 GMT

Education is one of the principle funding objectives of government, private, and corporate granting agencies. The desire to create a more informed and productive citizen is paramount on the agendas of both government and private sectors. In a global environment, the more educationally astute will assume technological and economic leadership roles.

Attendant with this concern is the strong push to enlarge the base of scientific and mathematical skills in schools to satisfy the No Child Left Behind mandates.
School leadership may also focus on securing funding to establish programs for disadvantaged students and preschoolers.
The horizon is alive with a variety of economic opportunities that can, when appropriately drawn together, provide greater learning opportunities for students.
Our educational products meet many of the guidelines listed by leading grant funding sources.

October 2009 "Dig Your Well Before You Thirst" PDF

Additional Grant Resources

Email blast hint: What other company has hands-on products?

Building a Straw Bale House

Hearlihy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:10:00 GMT

Most houses today are built out of brick, wood, steel and other materials, however a recent article points out how there is always alternative ways to construction. Pittsburg State University students are using natural materials to build a project home on campus. Construction includes walls made of straw bales and built up with rebar and dowel rod providing further support. The "house" will have a door, a window, and eventually a roof.

There is a reason for the use of straw bales in construction - a typical home has an r-value (insulation factor) of 30. A properly built straw-bale house can have an r-value of roughly 48.

Straw bale structure built by Pittsburg State University students broadcast.

Want to incorporate the straw-bale house curriculum in your classroom but limited on space, try our scaled down version of the Straw-Bale House Kit.

October Catalog

Ashlei — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 17:56:00 GMT

Our fourth and final Drafting & Supplies catalog for the 2009 year is printed and shipped. This catalog completes the 40^th year of Hearlihy.

When you get your copy, make sure you check out the cover and then read about the amazing student who created it for us on the front-inside cover. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think of the cover or tell us about an amazing student you have.

The back-inside cover displays our fund-raising opportunity for your schools with our screen printing program. The rest of the catalog is filled with new and best seller items. To request a catalog, please visit hearlihy.com/catalogrequest.

We appreciate you, our customers, and thank you for 40 great years.

Email blast hint: What other company has the desire to provide innovative classroom activities?