Hicksville Middle School Students Light Up The Holidays

XmasCards 122019A 1024x684 1 — Victor Lam (far left) with a few of his students displaying the LED Christmas cards they made in his Wearable Electronics class at Hicksville Middle School.
(Photo courtesy of the Hicksville School District)

Students in Victor Lam’s Wearable Electronics class at Hicksville Middle School recently created festive pop-up Christmas cards with LED lights to brighten up the holiday season. They created their projects from a circuit design template on card stock, copper tape, small LED lights and a battery.

XmasCards 122019B 1024x684 1 — Victor Lam demonstrates how to lay out copper tape on the design template for the pop-up LED Christmas cards his students made.
(Photo courtesy of the Hicksville School District)

The Wearable Electronics course introduces students to the tools, materials and techniques necessary to create interactive electronic circuits and embed them in clothing and other things that can be worn or used for a practical purpose.

XmasCards 122019C 1024x684 1 — : A Hicksville Middle School student creates the inside of an LED Christmas card, one of many light-up projects made in the Wearable Electronics course.(Photo courtesy of the Hicksville School District)

The course gets students excited about e-textiles (digital fabrics) while broadening their participation in and perceptions of programming. They engage in basic sewing skills and circuit concepts, use conductive thread and stitch out simple circuits. Some past projects created by Lam’s students include glow bots and wearable LED masks and bracelets.

—Submitted by the Hicksville School District