Benton Hall Academy Engineering by Design

10/06/2026

10/06/2026

Rita Ebel of Hanau, Germany, has used a wheelchair since a car accident in 1994 left her with incomplete paraplegia. For decades, she knew the frustration of rolling up to a shop door and finding a single step she couldn't cross.

In 2019, she read about another wheelchair user, Corinna Huber in Bielefeld, who had started building ramps out of LEGO bricks. Ebel contacted her, got the instructions, and delivered her own first ramp that June.

Then she kept going. She and her husband spend two to three hours a day building, gluing hundreds to thousands of donated bricks into each ramp, up to eight tubes of glue per ramp for stability. The biggest ones use 7,000 to 8,000 pieces.

Every ramp goes to local shops, cafes and businesses free of charge. A hair salon owner who received one, Malika El Harti, called it "a brilliant idea," saying passersby can now see from a distance that her shop is accessible.

The idea traveled. Ebel and her husband translated the building instructions into multiple languages and sent them to people in Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, France and the United States, who built their own copies.

Locals started calling her "Lego Oma," the Lego Grandma. Hanau gave her its civic medal in 2022, a short documentary about her came out in 2023, and in 2026 she received a Goldene Bild der Frau award.

By September 2026, her team had built 164 ramps, out of more than three tons of LEGO bricks.

10/02/2026

New York State Technology and Engineering Educators' Association

Save the dates! 🗓️ Join us at the 64th annual NYSTEEA Conference on March 18-19, 2027, in beautiful Kingston, NY! It's going to be packed with incredible workshops, inspiring lessons, and leading-edge technology. Get ready to elevate your skills and your curriculum! ✨ Learn more at www.nysteea.org. "

09/30/2026

Kindergarten has been busy-busy-busy in EBD! We are leaning all about various habitats in our kinder building block. We have learned about Human World Items and Natural World Items, started writing in our new engineering journals, learned about wasps and made a paper maché wasp nest, practiced our EBD vocabulary and worked on measurement and counting! That’s just a peek and we still have so much more to go!! You’ll also notice the kinders interacting with Utica University students in the lab as well as UU students joining us virtually on the computer!! We love having them join us daily in the EBD Lab!!

09/30/2026

Second grade has been busy learning about nature, biomimicry and how seeds are spread. We did a few of our favorite lessons-helicopters, p**p balls (clay and seeds😝) and learning how to make a bar graph! We loved learning about seed spreaders and planting our seeds in our awesome greenhouse!! Thanks again The Home Depot! You’ll also notice Utica University students in the lab in person as well as on the computer joining us virtually! They are a huge part of our class community!! (Video in comments🌱)

09/29/2026

Oooooh👀…..look what came in the mail today!! Can’t wait to have the kids start using these!! Thanks InventiBotz!!⚙️

09/28/2026

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09/25/2026

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🏝You don’t have to be a STEM island.

Tracy Young came to her first ITEEA conference without knowing anyone. One introduction helped her find friendships, a support network, and a path to leadership.

🧐 Find educators who understand your work, and are ready to share theirs.

Find your community, join ITEEA: www.iteea.org/membership