In November 2014, The Preservation Trust of Vermont, Google, Hartford High School and the State of Vermont partnered to put on the first “Town History in 3D” competition.  Over the past couple of months, Mater Christi School middle school Religion teacher, Ms. Julia Melloni, has been working with the students as they researched and recreated 3D models of historic houses of worship using the 3D modeling software Sketchup and 3D printing technology. MCS 8th grade students competed at the Google competition on Friday, March 27 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. They displayed their buildings on a giant map of Vermont and presented to judges.

Reporter Liz Strzepa with News Channel 5 covered the story and interviewed two MCS students and Ms. Melloni:

The Mater Christi School was the only religious-based school at the event. Instead of designing and printing traditional state buildings, students reported on various houses of worship in Vermont.

Lucy Miquel and Ludovica Palmieri, each part of the 8th grade team from the Mater Christi School, say they were excited to participate.

Miquel designed the Trinity Episcopal Church in Shelburne, Vt., and Palmieri designed the Beth Jacob Synagogue in Montpelier, Vt.

“The most frustrating part was getting the buildings to scale, it was really hard to get them exactly where you wanted them,” Miquel said.

Julia Melloni lead the 8th grade team from the Mater Christi School, and said she thinks her students got a lot out of working on the project.

“These kids were working four to six hours on their own outside of school without assigning any homework. They were so engaged, it’s been a great opportunity,” Melloni said.

The 3D models all of the students created will be embedded in Google Earth.  To read the full article on WPTZ, visit: VT Students Compete in 3D Contest

To learn more about the MCS Sketchup project, visit: Students Create 3D Models of Vermont Historic Buildings of Worship