School classes making prosthetic hands for kids without them

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Thursday, January 12, 2017
School classes making prosthetic hands for kids without them
Some 8th-graders in New York are getting a lessen in medical technology - and also in helping someone in need.

PLAINVIEW, N.Y. (WPVI) -- Some 8th-graders in New York are getting a lessen in medical technology - and also in helping someone in need.

The students at Mattlin Middle School on Long Island joined the "Prosthetic Kids Hand Challenge."

The organization looks for schools with a 3-D printer and then asks students to *volunteer to make a prosthetic hand.

So far, more than 500 classes in the U.S. and abroad have signed up to help.

A prosthetic made by a medical company costs tens of thousands of dollars.

A fully-functional one made with a 3-D printer typically costs under $100.

"When you think that someone doesn't have a real hand and they're going to get one from us, it would be really cool," remarked student Brendan Roberts.

"It's just amazing as a teacher and a mom to see the kids so ambitious to do something for someone else. And to stick with it," says teacher Melissa Goscinski.

The group works on the project between classes or at lunch, whenever they have free time.