Bree Valla, the principal of La Honda STEAM Academy, was very direct Wednesday when describing the mental state of some of her students following a break-in at the Lompoc campus in early February.

The perpetrators made away with about $10,000 worth of materials, according to school officials, including computers, several iPad devices, a projector and a 3-D printer, among other items. The heist not only robbed the students of the physical classroom tools, but also the hours of work and data that had been saved on some of the devices.

“The students were rather devastated and felt violated,” Valla said.

On Wednesday morning, those same students were upbeat and in good spirits as they formally accepted a gift from an unexpected source.

Representatives of SpaceX met with the students in an on-campus computer lab that featured a brand new 3-D printer recently purchased with a $2,500 donation made to the school from the space exploration company.

Eric Krystkowiak, the site director of SpaceX’s Vandenberg Air Force Base operation, told the students he and his co-workers were honored and excited to provide them with the new 3-D printer.

During the hourlong interactive presentation, Krystkowiak pointed to SpaceX’s early failures — its first three launch attempts were unsuccessful — and some of its more recent setbacks — its failed boost-back landing attempts over the past couple years — in an effort to demonstrate to the students that obstacles or misfortune, like the burglary, can be overcome.