Best of the Week 2020-2021: Teaching to the Future

ST. ANDRE'S SCHOLARS SHOP DESIGNS & SELLS EXCLUSIVE ST. ED'S COASTER SETS FOR HOLIDAY SEASON

For its second year in a row, the St. Andre's Scholars Shop has teamed up with the Entrepreneurship and Engineering departments to design, produce and sell an exclusive St. Ed's product. This year, the St. Andre's Scholars have created wooden coaster sets to sell to the St. Ed's community this holiday season. The four coasters are detailed with different aspects of the St. Ed's community and are stained St. Ed's green and gold colors as well as a light pecan color. One coaster is even themed for the St. Andre's Scholars with each student's signature including the late Michael George '21. With the help of Technology Manager James Millar '11, Mikey's signature was copied from a piece of work he completed during his freshman year at St. Ed's. This would have been Mikey's senior year and the St. Andre's Scholars wanted to pay homage to him with this coaster. The other coasters feature this year's theme, "Side by Side," the St. Ed's Crest, and athletics or other clubs and co-curricular activities offered at St. Ed's.

Since October, St. Andre's Scholars and Entrepreneurship students have brainstormed product ideas and design processes and even collected survey responses from fellow peers and faculty members who shared their product preferences for this year's creation. Using the CNC machine available in the Manufacturing Lab in the Institute for Innovation, coasters were made, cut, sanded down, and stained with the help of the St. Andre's Scholars. Next, each coaster was individually laser cut with custom designs, sealed, mounted to a cork backing, and packaged for incoming sales with the help from the St. Andre's Scholars. "This project in comparison to last year's involved many more steps and gave our scholars the opportunity to learn how to use more tools and processes that go into product design," says Director of St. Andre's Program Renee Zorger. "Students in the Entrepreneurship and Engineering departments served as excellent peer role models for our scholars, especially with the logistics, finance, and marketing elements to this project." Click here to purchase a coaster set from the St. Andre's Scholars Shop.