STEAM Academy student using 3D design skills to help classmates focus and to fight hunger in the community

FARMINGTON HILLS — An eighth grade student at the Farmington STEAM Academy is utilizing his 3D design skills to help students focus on their studies and to help in the battle against hunger.

Andrew Rathe, 14, is making and selling 3D fidget toys and phone holders to benefit the CARES of Farmington Hills family food pantry for his eighth grade capstone project.

For the project, students must do something that provides a way to help a local community.

“One of the biggest challenges our society faces is the growing problem of food insecurity,” the CARES website states. “Approximately 1.9 million Michiganders are struggling to buy the healthy food they need. One in 7 Michigan children are food insecure.”

Rathe’s project can have a direct impact on hundreds of families in several local communities.   

According to its website, CARES assists an average of 700 to 750 families from multiple cities, including Farmington, Farmington Hills, Livonia, Northville, Novi, Redford, Southfield and West Bloomfield.

“It’s something I’m very passionate about. I could make a project … that helps the community,” Rathe said of his project.

He said he decided to create fidgets as a way to help his peers stay out of trouble and focus better in the classroom.

  “I find myself fidgeting with pencils and stuff in class,” Rathe said. “Some people, they want to stay focused, but they need something to move around. …  So, I did this because it benefits the school, CARES and other people.”

Rathe said his merchandise selection is based on feedback from a survey he created.

He said he made the survey and asked the middle school teachers to have his peers complete it and return it to them.

He then created the fidgets from the most popular choices, as well as student requests.

The fidgets include hexagon-style toys, snakes, sharks and rings. They come in a variety of colors.

Rathe said he designed some of the fidgets himself and found some design files online for others.

He said he tinkered with the designs he saw online to “make them his own.”

Rathe’s mom, Jennifer, shared some thoughts about the project.

“The phone holders were really just a supplement,” she said. “We figured that some people … would like phone holders rather than just the fidget stuff.”

Along with the fidgets and the phone holders, Rathe created “finger sliders.”

The sliders are two small pieces of plastic that create a “calming” effect when rubbed together.

The sliders have a variety of colors and come in two different sizes.

Rathe said he can make approximately 30 fidget toys from one $20 roll of plastic material, with the fidgets taking anywhere from one to two hours to make.

Although the toys come in various colors, there is no guarantee that specific color preferences will be available.

The fidgets range in price from $1 to $4 and are being offered for sale at various craft shows and events until the end of the school term in June, with proceeds from the sales benefiting the food pantry.

Rathe hopes to raise at least $500.

“I chose the food pantry as I thought it would be a good place for the money to go so that people could get food that they couldn’t get elsewhere or couldn’t afford,” Rathe said.

“He just thought he could help out,” said Jennifer.

Jennifer said that her son, who is also involved in the Boy Scouts, has always had an interest in helping solve issues with hunger, and even expressed interest in volunteering at area soup kitchens.

Rathe is seeking more places and events where he can sell his merchandise. His mom has some ideas.

“I’d like to be able to open it up to do something like this (school craft show) at other places, such as the library or churches, (or) any kind of place that does a bazaar or something like that,” Jennifer said. “We are always looking for a place to sell.”

Anybody that is interested in having Rathe sell his fidgets at an event or venue, as well as those who are interested in purchasing them, can call Jennifer Rathe at (352) 226-1134.