Gloucester teachers begin production of protective facial shields

With remote  learning just beginning, members of the Gloucester High School and O’Maley Middle School staff are helping create protective equipment for essential workers.

The Gloucester school staff is working along with the Gloucester Education Foundation (GEF) to produce over 50 face shields a day to help protect our essential workers from COVID-19 with the use of 3-D printers stationed at GHS and the O’Maley Middle School.

While working on the production of the face shields, teachers have been making sure that they have been practicing social distancing between one another and wearing protective face masks while in the workplace.

The participating are science teachers Amy Donnelly and Dave Brown from O’Maley, alongside GHS engineering teachers Kurt Lichtenwald and John Barry and makerspace coordinator Tim Quinn.

Although it has been just recently that the staff members have been allowed back into the buildings, they have been working very hard. They have been working for up to 14 hours a day on facial shields.

The team of teachers are making modifications as needed from the suggestions by Addison Gilbert nurses who were testing the prototypes.

Kurt Lichtenwald, an engineering teacher and participant in the project said that “We had the resources, we had the equipment, why not give back to the community?”

As the days go on more shields are being made by these highly dedicated teachers.