by Paul Burton, CBS Boston
Twelve very hard working Lawrence High School freshmen are learning what it means to solve problems. Last year they were all impacted by the Merrimack Valley explosions caused by natural gas leaks and they wanted to do something about it.
“It’s important for us because some of our friends lost their homes and I wanted to help,” student Ronaldo Mejia said.
They’re part of a group called ENLACE and finalists in the national Samsung “Solve For Tomorrow Contest.”
“We decided this was a good opportunity for us to show our capabilities and teach students the causes and help them prepare to deal with these problems in the future,” teacher Shaddai Vargas said.
Each student played a different role. “Then we shared ideas about what we can do to solve the problem,” student Ashely Pichardo said.
Through a lot of hard work and with the help of a 3D printer they came up with a gas safety valve prototype. “Which mechanically will stop the high pressures of gas,” Vargas said.