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Volume 51, No. 22
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
Girl Scouts Sew Masks for Project Award By Cassandra Shofar cassandra@geaugamapleleaf.com
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Carly Irvin, a seventh-grader at West Geauga Middle School, cuts wire for protective facemasks that will be distributed to UH-Geauga Medical Center healthcare workers as they work amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
West Geauga Middle School students Carly Irvin and Julianne Speyer saw a need for facemasks to protect health care workers against COVID-19 and decided to hit two birds with one stone. Candice Irvin, of Russell Township, said her daughter’s silver award project for Girl Scout Troop 77192 involves making the fabric masks. “Her adult project leader, Jennifer Speyer, is spear heading this and has designed her own pattern to give more security to these fabric masks,” Irvin said. “Jen is working with University Hospitals to dispense (them). JoAnn Fabrics is also pitching in with fabric. Her daughter, Julianne Speyer, and mine, Carly Irvin, are working to fulfill this need with a goal of 100,000 masks.” Both Julianne and Carly, seventh-graders at West Geauga Middle School, are working on making masks for University Hospitals, Speyer, of Russell Township, confirmed.
“Two of my sisters and my sister-in-law in NY/NJ are all sick with Covid-19,” she said. “One of them is Julianne’s godmother. Since we can’t be there to help them, Julianne wanted to do something in their honor since two are nurses. Carly’s mother is also a nurse. They decided to work on this project to help the healthcare workers in our community. Because they are cadets, they have to work for at least 50 hours on this project in order to earn their silver award.” Speyer said a dear friend of hers, Erin Slay, is a nurse executive at UH. “She approached me several weeks ago and asked me to help make masks. I experimented with fabrics and polypropylene liners,” Speyer said. “I talked with the girls about getting supplies donated and how to organize the project. Then Erin came back with the news that JoAnn Fabrics was donating the supplies for 100,000 facemasks. In addition, the hospital wanted to use See Masks • Page 5
West Geauga BOE Conducts First Virtual Meeting By Diane Ryder editor@geaugamapleleaf.com West Geauga Schools Superintendent Richard Markwardt called it “the new normal,” as the West Geauga Schools Board of Education held their first virtual meeting online March 30. Using the virtual meeting software Zoom, the five members of the board met with Markwardt, Treasurer Karen Penler and Sean Whalen, director of technology for the district. The meeting, with each participant in separate locations, was made possible in light of the Ohio Board of Health officials’ mandates for people to remain in their
homes. As a result, the Ohio Legislature passed of House Bill 197 last week. “This is exactly what the new law allows,” board President William Beers said as he opened the meeting. The public was able to access the meeting by connecting to Zoom and entering a password provided by the school district. Spectators, watching from their own devices, were unable to speak during the meeting, but could indicate whether they wanted to make comments during the public portion of the meeting. Whalen said no one from the See Meeting • Page 6
DIANE RYDER/KMG
The “new normal” in public meetings, West Geauga Schools Board of Education conducts its first virtual meeting. On the screen was an architectural rendering of proposed parking lot improvements to Lindsey Elementary School. The individual board members appear on the right.
Chester Twp. to Offer Live Streaming of Trustees Meetings During the April 9 Chester Township Board of Trustees meeting, Trustee Skip Claypool offered to coordinate possibly live streaming the next trustees meeting on April 23 using the Zoom application. Residents who are listed as requesting email announcements of trustees meetings will be the first test group and will be the first offered to join the next meeting online. Submitted by W.L. Bud Kinney Chester resident and former trustee
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