Tech Den recently welcomed a few dozen sixth graders from the Forsyth School for a Halloween-themed open house that brought together hands-on activities, plenty of curiosity and a closer look at the technologies shaping life on campus. Throughout the tour, the students, joined by their Innovation and Design teacher Melissa Leuthardt and a few school staff members, got a close look at how sustainability, 3D printing, and app development play a role in everyday life.
At the start of the visit, they received keychains printed by the Tech Den staff in glow-in-the-dark filament. The students designed and submitted their own digital files for their keychains ahead of time. At each stop during the tour, students also collected candy to add to the Halloween spirit. To the students’ delight, the Tech Den staff were also dressed in Halloween costumes.
The tour opened with a look at sustainability through technology at the Sustainability Squadron Spooktacular. Business Analyst Mark Wilensky showcased the Tech Den’s hydroponic garden and Project GreenLight, and explained how the system works and allowed the students to try lettuce grown right inside the house. Several students excitedly reminisced about this edible moment in the form of handwritten thank you cards, including one who wrote “my favorite part of the Tech Den was eating lettuce,” and another adding “the garden you showed us was very cool. Thanks for the lettuce.”
The Trick or Print Creepy Creations Lab, led by technicians Zach O’Connor and Madison Curry, quickly became one of the biggest highlights of the visit. Students explored 3D model applications in medicine, archaeology, and fine art through 3D printed organs and historical artifact replicas, which they were excited to handle and examine. The lab also offered each student a small item from a treasure box. One student later wrote, “I never thought about all the different ways we could use 3D printing!” and another declared the 3D print lab their favorite part of the tour.
The final stop was Haunted Codebase, an app development demonstration with IT Project Manager Qasim Hayat and several student developers. They showed a video about their projects and walked the class through what goes into building an app and how debugging shapes the final product. One student noted, “I liked exploring […] how games are made.” The teachers enjoyed the tour just as much, with one sharing afterwards, “That was such a fun and informative tour for them, and we teachers loved it too. (..) Some of the children assumed that your building was part of their school and always wondered how it looked like inside!”
On the same day, Tech Den opened its doors to colleagues from ARST and offered them an opportunity to learn more about the student-facing programs it offered and to meet the staff.
In the end, the open house resonated with both visitors and colleagues. The Forsyth School students walked away with a memorable look at technology in action, while staff from across WashU IT gained a clearer sense of how Tech Den supports learning and innovation on campus. The event showed how shared experiences can build community and spark curiosity, from sixth graders seeing something new to staff discovering tools they had not encountered before.
