Several educators in Natrona County pooled their technological skills to create face masks and face shields for health care workers dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release from the Natrona County School District.

They delivered them to the Wyoming Medical Center on Monday.

Hospital nurse Becky Fleming had contacted technical education teacher Kora Huffman at Kelly Walsh High School about using the 3D printer from her classroom to produce face masks for the hospital's emergency room.

Huffman said she printed 25 masks.

Part of her work was to the community and show students the practical side of their education, she said.

Natrona County School District
Natrona County School District
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"I also wanted my students to see the relevance of why we do what we do in the classroom," Huffman said. "Fundamentally, this is a practical application of the skills they are learning and relevant translation to everyday life and helping the community."

Meanwhile, Casper College instructor Paul Brutsman met with hospital staff, identified an efficient and effective design to quickly make 100 face shields, and asked Huffman and Midwest School teacher Jim Fulkerson for their help.

Dean Morgan Junior High School teacher Melissa Ingram made 19 face masks, she said. “It was a great 'real world' example for my students too, of how this equipment and the programs they are learning have meaning, and purpose.”

Although students weren’t able to directly participate in this project, the educators taught  a lesson of community service, kindness, and support, according to the news release.

“It is a trying time," Fulkerson said. "This was a great way to give back and help out the ones on the front lines."

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