Gloucester Education Foundation has organized an effort to manufacture over 50 face shields per day using 3-D printers at Gloucester High School and O’Maley Innovation Middle School to protect front line workers against the coronavirus. The effort began on Friday night, with teachers running 40 printers nearly nonstop through the weekend to create the personal protective equipment for front line workers.
“This is another example of our wonderful Gloucester community coming together during this time of crisis.” said Aria McElhenny, executive director of Gloucester Education Foundation. “All of us want to help our friends and neighbors on the front lines and this project is giving us that opportunity.”
The shields are being printed and assembled at O’Maley and Gloucester High School by teachers wearing protective face masks and practicing safe social distancing. The teachers include middle school Science teachers David Brown and Amy Donnelly, high school Engineering teachers Kurt Lichtenwald and John Barry, and high school Makerspace Coordinator Timothy Quinn.
The 3-D printer labs at both schools have been rooted in community collaboration from the start. The O’Maley 3-D printer lab was created during a weekend-long “make-a-thon” in 2014, when local volunteers built 24 printers. At Gloucester High School, the 3-D printer lab is part of the Makerspace, which gives students and community members the opportunity to work on state of the art equipment including 3-D printers, a water laser cutter, a circuit printer, robotic arms, dry laser cutter, and other industry-grade tools and equipment used in design and manufacturing.
Funding for both came from Gloucester Education Foundation thanks to generous donors including the Applied Materials Foundation, JMR Barker Foundation, and local philanthropists John and Mollie Byrnes, Richard Weiss and Barbara McLaughlin, and Joe and Maggie Rosa.
Gloucester Education Foundation drives innovation, encourages creativity, expands student opportunities and empowers educators to strengthen teaching and learning in the Gloucester Public School District. Since it was established in 2005, Gloucester Education Foundation has raised more than $8 million to fund programs in the Gloucester Public Schools.
Additional Info:
Face Shield Design being used at O’Maley:
https://www.matterhackers.com/store/l/protective-face-shield/sk/M7LP9Q7M
Face Shield Design being used at Gloucester High School:
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/25857-prusa-face-shield
Good Morning Gloucester 