Educators collaborate, 3D-print custom mallet to help third grader play

Allie loves music.

She likes singing and playing instruments at Maple Lawn Elementary, where she’s a third grader. This year, she started learning about beats and rhythms. 

Because of her physical disability, Allie uses a mouthpiece as a tool for everyday tasks at school. So when the xylophone was proving a difficult instrument to play, staff rallied around Allie to come up with a solution.

It started with Amanda Job – Miss Amanda, as Allie calls her – who works with Allie as a paraeducator. 

During music class, it dawned on Amanda that the mallets used for the xylophone were too thick to fit in Allie’s mouthpiece. She asked Valerie Chittick, music teacher at Maple Lawn, if there were any thinner mallets that would fit. 

There weren’t, but Mrs. Chittick had an idea. 

“Mr. Voiles and I had been doing collaborations between STEM and music,” she said. “We’d had kids design music instruments here and there. That’s what made me think of it – if we can do music instruments, we can do a mallet.”

Peter Voiles, the school’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Math teacher had the help of his fifth grade students to come up with measurements. He then refined the design and used a 3D printer – a machine that creates three-dimensional objects – to create a mallet sized just right to fit in Allie’s mouthpiece. Not only that, but he used materials to give it some weight, making it easier for Allie to keep on beat. 

“I think it’s really cool that they can actually make it for me,” Allie said. 

Now, with the right tools made by her teachers, playing the xylophone is no problem for Allie. In fact, she might tackle the drums next. 

“It's been pretty neat to see her utilize it,” Amanda said. “How she was using the mallets before worked, but now we can kind of see her fully use it to follow a beat and different rhythms. And it brings her a lot of joy, so it’s pretty great.”

Thank you to Miss Amanda, Mrs. Chittick and Mr. Voiles for ensuring every student is known, valued and supported. Check out a video of Allie using her new mallet.