Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Fall 2014 | Page 10

TA International
International Parent Association and Students
Donate Nelson Hall Basketball Court
Nearly twenty members from four Chinese Parent Associations, as well as several Chinese students, contributed $30,000 for the
construction of a new basketball court behind Nelson Hall dormitory. Upon its completion in September, Headmaster Menard led a
ribbon-cutting ceremony with international students. Residential students and staff are enjoying the new resource. Hanfu “Xavier” Xu
‘15 led the campaign to raise support for the project by presenting to students about the need. This year, Thornton Academy has invited
all international parents to participate in the new STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) Center project.

Thank you parents and students for your generosity!

Donation of 3D Printers
This summer, Thornton Academy junior Shuyu "Stacey" Li donated five three-dimensional (3D) printers
to Thornton Academy. 3D printing is the process of
manufacturing three-dimensional, solid objects from a
digital file. According to ComputerWorld, “a survey of
100 top manufacturers revealed that two-thirds are using
3D printing, some for rapid prototyping and others for
production or custom parts.” One of the donated printers (see right) will be used for instruction at the Middle
School, while four printers will serve instruction in
STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) classes
in the high school.
About the donation, Stacey said, “I hope the 3D printers
offer teachers and students a chance to develop technology skills. For me, TA is my second hometown and I
wanted to contribute.”

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Did You Know?
Thornton Academy enrolls students from more than 20
countries.

POSTSCRIPTS