Charles
J.
Colgan
Sr.
High
School
sophomores
kicked
their
small
3D-printing
business
into
high-gear,
and
a
Woodbridge
High
School
teacher
is
working
in
his
home
basement
to
help
in
the
fight
against
the
spread
of
the
COVID-19
virus.
They
are
making
3D-printed
masks
for
local
first
responders.
Max
Lawson
and
Ethan
Carr
received
a
request
for
3D-printed
masks
from
a
local
doctor
and
PWC
School
Board
Chairman,
Dr.
Babur
Lateef.
They
enlisted
the
help
of
fellow
classmates
Solomon
Ralston,
Caleb
Bock,
Michael
Kreider,
and
Aiden
Patterson
to
help
boost
production.
Within
a
few
days,
the
3D-printing
team
made
and
delivered
151
face
shields
and
over
81
N95
face
mask
extenders.
"Each
of
us
can
make
a
difference,
and
these
boys
are
leading
the
way,"
said
Lateef.
Ethan/Max
Printing
(EMP)
is
the
company
and
backbone
of
this
initiative.
The
company
was
started
in
2017
when
the
students
decided
to
start
a
business
making
the
popular
toy,
fidget
spinners.
They
are
both
enrolled
in Project
Lead
the
Way
(PLTW),
a
Career
and
Technical
Education
(CTE)
program
offered
at
several
PWCS
high
schools.
This
engineering
program
is
nationally
recognized.
It
offers
an
enriched
sequence
of
courses
to
prepare
students
for
college
level
engineering
courses
With
the
help
of
their
parents
and
over
$3,000
in
community
donations,
the
team
was
able
to
purchase
printer
filament
and
other
needed
supplies
to
continue
to
fill
requests
for
nursing
homes,
the
airline
industry,
and
other
medical
facilities.
From
the
basement
of
his
home,
Woodbridge
High
School
Teacher
Carlos
Castro
is
also
producing
3D-printed
masks.
He
is
using
printers
built
by
the
school's
robotics
team.
Funds
received
from
a
GoFundMe
campaign
were
used
to
build
two
additional
printers.
The
two
newest
printers
were
given
the
names
Hope
and
Charity.
They
join
Dave,
Ryoko,
and
Felix,
who
are
hard
at
work
printing
masks.
Castro
is
humbled
to
see
how
fast
his
fundraiser
reached
the
goal
of
$3,000
for
the
purchase
of
supplies
to
make
masks,
mask
buckles
and
face
shields.
He
has
made
50
masks
and
25
face
shields
for
PWCS
School
Food
and
Nutrition
Services
employees
and
has
made
250
face
mask
buckles
for
the
PWCS
Police
Department
to
use
when
they
need
to
wear
a
mask
for
an
extended
period
of
time.
Currently,
he
is
filling
a
request
for
an
Army
medical
team
and
a
medical
facility. His
items
are
available
at
no
cost
to
those
who
need
them.
"By
each
of
us
doing
our
part,
either
as
a
frontline
responder,
an
essential
worker
or
just
staying
home,
we
will
get
through
this,"
Castro
said.