A Wapato Middle School teacher is using the popularity of the hottest new fad sweeping the country as a golden teaching opportunity. Teacher Paul Melton is giving students in his Design and Modeling Class the opportunity to design and build fidget spinners. The small handheld toys have become all the rage over the past couple of months. According to Wikipedia, in May of this year, there was so much demand for fidget spinners that some factories in China which used to make cell phones and phone accessories switched to making fidget spinners. The toy basically consists of a bearing in the center of a design made from any of a variety of materials. Mr. Melton says since the toy is so popular with kids it was a perfect fit for his class. Students in the Design and Modeling Class learn how to develop design proposals for their projects, create technical drawings of those projects, build computer models of their designs and then create them using a 3-D printer. Students have to rely on a lot of math and learn to use technical measuring tools, like dial calipers, to complete their work. Fidget spinners are not the only things students in the class are designing and building. They also have the opportunity to build yo-yo’s, key chains, ear bud cases and more.   The Design and Modeling Class is part the Project Lead the Way class offerings at the Middle School.