MMI purchases six circuit drawing pens with Exxon Mobil Educational Alliance grant from Onvo

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MMI Preparatory School purchased six Circuit Scribe drawing pens and additional refills with a $500 Exxon Mobil Educational Alliance grant received from Onvo.

The Circuit Scribe conductive ink pen, which contains actual liquid silver, offers instructors an innovative way of teaching how electricity and electronics work and gives students an immersive, hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) experience.

Using the non-toxic, silver ink pen, students can draw circuits between the electronic modules with the steel canvas under the paper. After they place the modules and switch on the power, students can watch as their circuit drawing activates lights, buzzers, motors, and more.

MMI Academic Dean/Computer Science and Technology instructor Justin Vincent said that he, along with Science, Math, and Technology instructor Amanda Shonk and Science instructor Timothy Garvey, has been eager to add the circuit drawing pens to MMI’s science and technology tools and the instructors are excited to use them with the students.

Vincent said “Circuitry and electronics are best taught in a hands-on manner but the physical wiring becomes complex so fast that it often overpowers conceptual understanding.  A tool such as this takes that complexity and turns it into a process as simple as drawing a picture on a piece of paper. We are grateful to Onvo and Exxon Mobil for helping us procure these pens.”

Harman Aulakh, Marketing Manager for Onvo, stated “Onvo is proud to support the students and faculty of MMI through the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance grant. We’re happy to see that MMI is putting the grant towards an important tool that will enhance students’ STEM education.”

Onvo—formerly known as Liberty—is a family business based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Since 1988, the Onvo team has built a network of travel plazas, convenience stores, and restaurants dedicated to serving the travelers of Pennsylvania, New York, and beyond. As of 2020, the Onvo family of businesses now includes 32 travel plazas and gas stations, 23 quick-service and full-service restaurants, petroleum distribution, and five hotels in Pennsylvania and Upstate New York.

Exxon and Mobil combine to fuel young minds through the Educational Alliance. Since its inception, the companies have committed more than $34 million to this national program, which funds math and science programs at schools in need as part of their ongoing effort to support STEM education within the communities they serve. Through their partnership with the Educational Alliance, Exxon and Mobil help give students the tools and technology they need to connect what they learn in the classroom with what they see in the real world.

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