Local Teacher Heroes

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow teacher in Lewistown, MT answers a doctor’s call for 3-D printed masks for healthcare workers

Susan Flentie is a science teacher at Lewistown Jr. High School in Montana with a passion for STEM education and inspiring her students, so when a doctor in Billings, MT put a call out to teachers with 3-D printers to make masks for healthcare workers, Flentie was one of the first to sign up.

“Since I posted about making the masks on social media, I’ve had people volunteering to give us money to buy more filament and I’ve had nurses and doctors from around here emailing me asking me for one,” Flentie explained.

Science teacher Susan Flentie is using a 3-D printer she and her students won as part of a the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest to make masks for healthcare workers. (Photo courtesy of Susan Flentie)

Over the past 5 years, Flentie and her students have been a three-time State Winner and one-time State Finalist in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow national STEM contest, winning more than $66,000 worth of technology and supplies for their school, including the 3-D printer and Chromebooks that have come in handy as the school began holding virtual classes. A colleague of Flentie’s, life science teacher Steve Paulson, also won an additional $23,500 in technology for the school with his students in 2014 and 2015.

“We are able to check out Chromebooks to to use at home because of the numbers of Chromebooks we’ve received from Samsung in the three previous times we were State Winners,” Flentie explained.

Flentie isn’t the only Solve for Tomorrow teacher putting her technology and STEM skills to work for the safety of local healthcare workers and first responders. Both Kevin Woolridge, teacher at Blue Ridge High School in Lakeside, AZ and Marc Guthrie, a teacher at Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro, TN are as well.

Samsung commends all teachers nationwide who are serving their communities and helping students stay engaged and educated during this time.