LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Fayette County students are bringing fidget toys back into style. But this time with a purpose that goes far beyond playground trends.
The innovative project spans across the school district, with students from 3rd grade through high school seniors participating in the manufacturing process at schools like Leestown Middle School. These specially designed fidgets will be kept in fire engines so firefighters can hand them to individuals who may need help calming down during stressful emergencies.
"It's gonna be a great thing to be able to hand them something to help soothe them and put their mind at ease for just a little bit," a firefighter said.
The fidget designs are backed by scientific research conducted by the students themselves. The district's STEM learning coach explained that students intentionally raised their heart rates during testing, then used the fidgets to measure how movement, texture, and feel impacted their stress levels.
"Looking at that data they could then decide, hey, this fidget is having the greatest impact on decreasing my heart rate or helping me calm down when I'm in a stress or elevated situation," the STEM learning coach said.
The project demonstrates how students identified a community need and took action to address it.
"They saw a need and they decided that they could take action," a firefighter said.
One student reflected on the meaningful impact of the school district's work assembling 1,000 of these devices.
"Directly helping so many people mentally and just having something to give to them and like make them have a little bit of enjoyment with that very hard time that they might be going through," the student said.
The initiative comes at no cost to the school district, thanks to Bullard (HYPER LINK: About Us | Bullard), a Kentucky-based equipment manufacturing company that is covering the expenses for the 3D printing filament.
"Bullard does great things with the fire department and they make safety equipment. It's built Bullard tough," the STEM learning coach said.
Beyond providing immediate help to the community, the project serves as an educational opportunity that could inspire future career paths. The STEM learning coach emphasized the importance of early exposure to potential careers.
"It's not too early to expose kids to future careers because it could be a 3rd grader that has an amazing experience that then decides at 3rd grade, this is what I wanna do when I grow up," the STEM learning coach said.
For participating students, the project has opened up new possibilities and sparked interest in continued community involvement.
"Having the chance to be creative like this just opened up a world of possibilities," one student said.
Another student expressed enthusiasm for future community engagement: "I definitely wanna like be involved in the community like this in the future."
The collaboration between Fayette County schools, the Lexington Fire Department, and Bullard demonstrates how educational initiatives can create practical solutions while teaching students valuable lessons about community service and STEM applications.
