A Service Learning Project In the proposal for the winning project, titled \u201cService Learning Through Assistive Technology Engineering,\u201d Bowers outlines his hope of creating a class and curriculum that teaches hands-on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) skills while teaching disability awareness and building empathy in young learners. He also hopes to provide free, customized adaptive equipment for students with disabilities from the Waterbury community.<\/p>\n The idea for the project was born from the union of several influences for Bowers: work experience, disability awareness, passion for assistive technology, and a lifelong, sincere belief that experiential service learning is the most meaningful and impactful type of education.<\/p>\n Bowers began volunteering as a child, tutoring younger children who were homeless, which shaped his sense of duty to help those in need. However, his most formative service learning experience came in college, where he participated in Boston College\u2019s PULSE<\/a> program, described as an \u201cacademic service-learning experience that helps undergraduates grow as human beings and learn how to work for a just society.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI truly admired how the program synthesized academic learning with hands-on service, deepening my sense of empathy while helping improve the lives of marginalized groups,\u201d Bowers says. \u201cAfter discovering my passion in speech-pathology and completing a master\u2019s degree, I longed to create these opportunities for my students one day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe were so impressed by the energy and creativity of [Bowers’] project and by the deep commitment he clearly has for his students, for teaching, and for making a difference.\u201d — Todd Campbell, Neag School faculty member and chair of the 2023 Rogers Award selection committee<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Thanks to the Rogers Educational Innovation Fund award<\/span>, Bowers will be able to purchase and teach his students to use <\/span>a 3D printer and supplies, developing their STEAM skills. The students will creat<\/span>e<\/span> 3D-printed versions of assistive technology, which <\/span>their peers with disabilities will then be able to use in class. <\/span>It is much cheaper to 3D-print the assistive equipment than purchase it,<\/span> so the project will make the technology more accessible to students with disabilities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This project, Bowers wrote in his proposal, \u201cwill help Chase students gain experience in the rapidly growing field of \u2018Tech for Good,\u2019 which uses technology to build life-changing solutions but will also allow their district-area disabled peers to receive free equipment to help them gain better access to academics and communications.\u201d<\/p>\n The project will also connect Chase students with their peers with disabilities, providing a meaningful and memorable relationship between groups that do not always have opportunities to interact.<\/p>\n Positive Impact on Peers<\/strong><\/p>\n Award applicants, in submitting their proposals this past fall, were asked to address such questions as \u201cWhat is the teaching and learning problem that drives your proposed innovation?\u201d and \u201cWhat benefit will the proposed work have for the students in your classroom, school, or school district?\u201d A committee of Neag School faculty reviewed the submissions based on these and several other questions.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to have students and staff from the Neag School observe and participate with the project, providing a unique opportunity to witness the intersection of tech education and service learning,\u201d Bowers says. \u201cThis project could serve as a springboard to expand student-teacher participation in subsequent years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStudents of Matthew Bowers are lucky to have him as their teacher and, as citizens, we are incredibly fortunate to have him educating our next generation,\u201d says Todd Campbell<\/a>, department head of Curriculum and Instruction at the Neag School and chair of the 2023 Rogers Award selection committee.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to have students and staff from the Neag School observe and participate with the project, providing a unique opportunity to witness the intersection of tech education and service learning.\u201d — Matthew Bowers, speech-language pathologist at ACES at Chase in Waterbury<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cWe were so impressed by the energy and creativity of his project and by the deep commitment he clearly has for his students, for teaching, and for making a difference,\u201d Campbell says.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditional methods of helping the less fortunate through indirect means, such as fundraisers, can feel abstract and distant for young learners,\u201d Bowers says. \u201cThis project will allow students to directly connect with who they are helping, and in the process learn about the needs of their disabled peers and then see firsthand how their products make a positive impact.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI would like to thank the donor\u2019s family for not only investing in the STEAM education of students at Chase but also helping instill in them the invaluable experience of building empathy through helping others grow and learn,\u201d Bowers continues. \u201cIt is truly the gift that keeps on giving!\u201d<\/p>\n Bowers will be formally recognized at the\u00a02023 Neag School Alumni Awards Celebration<\/a>\u00a0next month.\u00a0<\/em>Read more about the Rogers Educational Innovation Fund at\u00a0<\/em>rogersfund.uconn.edu<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Matthew Bowers, an educator at ACES at Chase in Waterbury, receives $5,000 to support his classroom project titled ‘Service Learning Through Assistive Technology Engineering’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":195641,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1855],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1879],"class_list":["post-195630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-neag"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-26 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