Nichols Students and Faculty Collaborate to Provide Masks for Local Health Care Workers

 

With the Nichols School campus closed due to the spread of the coronavirus, faculty and students have faced this challenge with ingenuity and creativity. Classrooms have shifted to computers, and experiential learning opportunities depend on individuals working together from different locations. One group has found a way to apply skills taught in the STEM Lab at home to benefit the Buffalo community during this pandemic.

Upper School physics teacher Larry Hiller, who also supervises Nichols' FIRST robotics program, is leading a group of students as they work collaboratively to supply face shields and masks for health care workers at local hospitals like Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Sisters of Charity Hospital. Hiller utilizes Nichols School's 3D printer to produce the face shields and completes each one with a sheet protector and a rubber band.

Hiller says it takes about four hours to print a face shield and has the machine running 24 hours a day from his home. He has produced 14 face shields so far and hopes to produce at least 30 more.

A group of robotics students led by Luke Blandino '22, Anu Kumar '21, Yamato Takabe '22 and Julia Yohe '21 are also sewing additional masks to be donated. The students coordinated the distribution of materials over the past week and began washing fabric and sewing last weekend.

For the students, the planning process began weeks ago as the potential impact in Western New York became more well-known. As events were canceled, campus was closed and the situation escalated, the group knew this project could have a definitive impact on the local community.

"I started this initiative to deliver hand-made masks for Roswell Park because I wanted to make an impact on the broader community, especially during these tough times," Takabe '22 said. "Our Nichols community is excellent in supporting students' ideas with Mr. Hiller providing the fabric and Julia Yohe for helping me organize the project. Many others including Rohit Rachala, Trisha Jupudy, Owen Parker, Anuraag Kumar, and Lauren Radford stepped up to help cut and sew the fabric."

"A few weeks ago, we started talking a lot about what we could do to help our community right now, knowing that we would run into challenges since we couldn't meet up anywhere," Yohe '21 said. "We brainstormed for about a week or so and settled on making medical masks. Doctors and hospital staff are doing incredible work, and we decided that helping them would be the best way to help the community, since they are the ones who are keeping us alive right now."

"I'm just really glad the kids took initiative to organize themselves," Hiller added. "They are awesome kids and just want to be helpful. This is what is great about robot teams."

The masks and face shields are being used by medical staff working on the front lines to help those affected by the COVID-19 coronavirus, including Nichols parents and alumni like Dr. Lisa Gelman-Koessler '93 P'26.

 

Thank you so much to every member of our community who is applying their talents to make a difference in this challenging time!