Montgomery Catholic Teacher 3D Prints for Montgomery Fighting Covid-19

Covid-19 has created a high demand for personal protection equipment, or PPE, and many healthcare facilities have struggled to keep adequate inventories of basic items, like face masks and disposable gloves. Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School computer science teacher Mindy Walski has volunteered her time with Montgomery Fighting Covid, a local group made up of volunteers who have 3D printers to help to provide some much-needed PPE for local hospitals and clinics.

“Basically, what they need right now is face shields,” said Walski. “The piece that I am printing is the plastic piece at the top that holds the shield in place.”

The face shields consist of two parts: a clear plastic shield that blocks droplets and a headpiece that attaches to the clear shield and allows the it to be worn. The shields are worn along with traditional face masks and help to add an extra layer of protection and prevent droplet contact with the eyes.

“Each piece takes about an hour to print, so hopefully we will be able to get 8 to 10 masks per day,” said Walski. “We bought another printer, so we should be able to print two at a time.”

Because there are many different people helping the effort, the files for the 3D printing project are distributed by Montgomery Fighting Covid, along with a list of preferred printing materials, to help standardize the production. The organization also handles the assembly and sanitization of the masks, and will distribute them to hospitals and clinics who need PPE the most in our community.

Montgomery Catholic Music Classes Continue

Distance learning is a challenge for any classroom, but it is uniquely difficult for musicians who are used to playing in harmony together. Throughout the months of March and April, Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School students have been responsible for keeping up with their coursework, and those enrolled in band class are no exception. Montgomery Catholic band directors Alex and Kristine Johnson had to come up with solutions to keep their students engaged.

“We can’t put students together in any ensembles,” said Alex. “To keep up with their instruments, they are working on scales and etudes which they record and send to us for feedback.”

The students receive assignments from the Johnsons, and they must practice daily in order to keep up. Using their laptops and cell phones, the students then record themselves playing and email these videos to their teachers.

“Individuals are highly accountable on a daily basis for material,” Alex added. “This method gives us an opportunity to give highly detailed feedback to each individual.”

And while they are not able to play in groups, the students themselves have come up with creative ways to create socially responsible ensembles. Senior Theo Hornsby, a trumpet player, recorded a video where he performed all 8 parts of a trumpet octet, Infinite Ascent by Erik Morales.

“He’s very motivated to stay in top shape,” said Alex. “And while it’s challenging to play along with a recording that is six and a half minutes long, he was able to do it 8 times.”

Montgomery Catholic’s middle and high school band programs had a record number of students who were accepted into the All-District Bands and All-State Bands. 12 students from the middle school and 13 students from the high school were chosen to perform in the ABA District VI Honor Bands, and of those, 3 middle school students and 11 high school students were accepted into the All-State Honor Bands. Additionally, for the second year in a row, the 7^th grade band, 8^th grade band, and high school band all achieved overall “Superior” ratings at the annual Music Performance Assessment, which is the highest rating a band can achieve. Ensembles are judged on specific areas, such as tone, intonation, technique, rhythm, balance, and musicianship, and are given an overall score based on their subcategory scores.

Montgomery Catholic Teacher Displays Teddy Bears

The Teddy Bear Hunt is a fun scavenger hunt that’s taken the country by storm, and there is no more perfect spot to find bears than at the Montgomery Catholic St. Bede elementary campus. 3^rd grade teacher Tammy Quillin has a unique year-long project for her students where they each get to pick a stuffed bear and write about its life and adventures. When the campus shut down in mid-March, the students were unable to take the bears with them, but Mrs. Quillin wanted the students to still visit with their plush buddies. She arranged all of the bears in her classroom windows, making a cute and cuddly display, complete with a special message from the bears to her students.

“We miss you, 3^rd Grade!” says one sign. “Love, Your Bears,” says the other. It’s a sweet message for the students but also an uplifting display for passers-by.

Montgomery Catholic Family Donates 3D Printed Masks to Community

Many people in the River Region have been spending a lot of time at the house due to work from home orders, including the faculty and families of Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School. MCPS parent Andy O’Donnell, a cybersecurity manager and father of senior Charlie and 8^th grader Abby, found that while he and his family were isolating at home and had some downtime, they could help the community by dusting off an old 3D printer and making protective face masks for people who needed them.

“I had gotten my daughter, Abby, a 3D printer for Christmas a couple of years ago,” he said. “It had been sitting in storage, so we pulled it out last week, got it working, and we’ve made a bunch of masks already.”

With the increase of COVID-19 cases in Alabama, obtaining personal protection equipment, such as protective medical face masks, has been difficult, even for those working in the medical community. O’Donnell and his wife, Virginia, searched online for 3D printer filtration mask patterns that would be reusable and easy to assemble and got to work. The plastic filament used for production is PLA, or polylactic acid, a renewable polymer made from corn. As for the filtration, they researched various fabrics and found that high-grade furnace filters have sufficient protection as they are HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air) rated and able to block viruses and other particles as small as 0.3 microns in size. The mask itself can be sterilized with a bleach and water solution or with UV light, and the HEPA filter can be easily removed and replaced. They also received a donation of medical-grade elastic bands, which are used to secure masks onto the faces of wearers, from a manufacturing company.

While the O’Donnells’ 3D printer has successfully made several masks, the process takes a few hours, and the printer can only produce up to three masks in a day. They have ordered a second 3D printer, but due to delays in shipments and deliveries, they will not receive the unit until the end of March. They are also searching for a UV light sterilizer so that they can efficiently ensure the masks are clean and sterile before giving them away. They are currently using a bleach solution to sterilize the masks, elastic bands, and the bags they are packaged in.

“We’ve already given some of our masks away, including one to a friend who recently had a kidney transplant and is immunocompromised,” said O’Donnell. “We’ve also had several nurses reaching out to us.”

The O’Donnells are hoping to boost their own manufacturing, but Andy says that he also hopes others will start doing the same thing.

“There may be people out there who, like me, bought these 3D printers for their kids,” he said. “Who knows, they could be sitting in a garage but could be put to use. And colleges and universities might have a couple that are just sitting there that could be used, too.”

Of course, he wouldn’t leave anyone to just flounder on their own, especially if this is their first 3D printing project. “If anybody has a 3D printer at home, I can certainly train them on how to make these,” he said. “I can help people to avoid the pitfalls if they haven’t used one before.”