Redwood High School junior Tyler Stark gets chance to play
Redwood High School junior Tyler Stark loves sports. But born without hands or feet, he hasn’t been able to participate—until now.
Engineering students at Redwood were given the project to create a prosthesis hand on a 3D printer that would make it possible for Tyler to throw a baseball. Tyler will use that hand to throw out the opening pitch at Tuesday's Senior Night baseball game.
“Tyler is considered a team member and attends most games,” said Xico Rojas, Expanded Learning (XL) adviser. “When he was approached about this idea, he jumped at the opportunity. This is the last game as well as senior night where all the parents show up, and senior players are honored, which will be a great time for Tyler to throw.”
Just one more kudo for the champion Ranger team.
Yearlong project
It all started early last year when Ryan Blair, engineering teacher,r and assistant varsity baseball coach, and Alex Cortez, then the XL adviser, came up with the idea to create a special project for students in the architecture academy to give them a chance to work with software and build a working object.
“I had heard Alex had a degree in bio-medical engineering and knew he would have a way to make the project happen,” said Blair.
The students were divided into teams to research and develop a pitching hand for Tyler. At the end of the semester,r the chosen design was by brothers Miles and Isaiah Largoza.
Isaiah explained why their design was chosen.
“It had a quick design. We just took a circle and used the arc to form a cup to hold the ball. It was simple and could be completed within the timeline.”
One of the other teams took a more complicated approach, creating a hand with fingers, but there wasn’t time to perfect it.
Blair estimates they printed out and tested about eight prototypes before coming up with the final version.
Oh-oh, he’s a lefty
A setback came halfway through the process when they realized that Tyler was a lefty.
“I noticed him throwing a football with his arms. Before throwing, he stepped forward with his right leg, and I told the students, I think Tyler is left-handed,” said Blair.
Back to the drawing board (o,r in this case, computer CAD program).
Although the engineering students had observed 3D printing before, it was exciting to see their designs printed out thin layer by layer.
Because of the time it took to print (14-23 hours), the students made part of the prosthetic hollow to cut the printing time. When Tyler tried it out, it cracked.
So there was another modification in the design to make it solid.
A jokester who takes his disabilities in stride
Tyler takes his disabilities in stride. His prosthetic feet enable him to walk, but he never pursued getting hands. He demonstrates that he does fine on the phone or iPad using his arm to key in letters.
But getting a hand that could pitch
“That is exciting. It is an amazing opportunity,” he said.
Tyler has been part of the baseball team for several years.
“He comes to every practice and breaks the huddle. Sometimes when it’s time to get out on the field, I have to hustle the players because they’re sitting there talking with Tyler,” said Blair.
And he’s a jokester.
When the team is asked to do a certain play, he will quip, “Wel,l you know I can’t do that. I don’t have hands.”
Blair said, “He’s not shy; he dishes it right back.”
Dreaming of being a sportswriter
Tyler is a huge Yankees fan (he gets a lot of flack from his mostly pro-Dodger teammates). And he’s a writer for the school paper.
“He’s written some articles. He interviewed some of our coaches who have played professionally,” said Blair.
Tyler would like to become a sportswriter.
Asked if he’severy been bullied, he says no. What about all the media coverage of bullying?
“You know how the media can be…” he said matter-of-factly, acknowledging his chosen profession can sometimes over-emphasize things.
Blair sees Tyler’s involvement with the team as a win-win. It’s good for Tyler, and it’s also good for the team.
“It’s healthy for the players to see how good they have it.”
And this engineering project has had the same win-win effect.
“That’s the way Redwood is. We look for ways to engage and help our students.”
In this case, everyone will cheer Tyler as he throws out that pitch Tuesday night.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Redwood High School junior Tyler Stark gets chance to play
