May Teachers Use Technology to Make Masks More Comfortable

Teachers on the School-based Response Team in our Randolph school are using technology to make wearing masks all day more comfortable. They are running two 3D printers to make mask extenders (pictured below) for colleagues, many of whom are working on the frontlines in our residential homes and Nursing department. Proper and consistent mask use is critical as we focus on safety during this time of COVID-19, and this is a gesture and a thingamajig that’s making a big difference!    

The Response Team provides support to all the residences that house students with autism, delivers food and supplies, and assists with staffing. The team has printed more than 200 extenders and is hoping to print many more. Each extender takes approximately 20 minutes to print. Staff members who have received these “comfort items” have been incredibly grateful.

The 3D printers, most often used by our students when completing projects, were paid for with grant proceeds awarded to the school to purchase education technology. Many thanks to the Allison Keller Education Technology Program, a program of the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism (2019), Constance O Putnam Foundation (2019), and the John W. Alden Trust (2018) for their generosity.

See photo album!