Stare blankly into you computer for 12 hours every day

Science & Tech Editor

Three 3D printers sit sideby-side, spitting out frames for face shields while sophomore Sam Duong assembles his daily 40 face shields to donate to frontline workers.

Along with his robotics team, Kuriosity Robotics, Duong said he has been 3D printing face shields for a variety of facilities ranging from hospitals in San Diego to nursing homes in Houston. Duong said he first found out about the opportunity of producing face shields through social media, where he saw Prusa, a Prague-based 3D printing company, asking the community to 3D print face shields for those in need.

According to Duong, he and his team decided it would be valuable to help the community by designing and producing face shields during the team’s offseason, when competitions come to a halt and teams stop building their robots.

“We are a robotics team, so we have a lot of technical experience and machines,” Duong said. “Currently, we don’t need to build a robot, so we might as well use (our resources) to do something good.”

Despite his teammates’ help, Duong said he still spends much of his free time working on the project.

“I’ll spend one or two hours assembling the face shields and boxing them,” Duong said. “We’re constantly running 3D printers, so every so often there will be one that breaks and needs to be fixed real quickly.”

Amidst spending the time to produce, assemble and donate face shields, Duong said he has set a series of large goals for himself and his team.

As of May 4, Duong said the team surpassed the mark of donating 2,000 face shields.

“We set milestones along the way,” Duong said. “The initial goal we set was actually 5,000, but if there is still a need for face shields after that, then we’ll still continue to make it.”

By Bruno Klass

Staff Writer

Looks like Future got it ing “Mask Off,” we’re all putting masks on. To curb the prompt spread of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control officially recommends that people wear facial coverings when leaving their homes for essential purposes. When the virus first broke out, people hurried to stock-up on Personal Protective Equipment, such as face masks and gloves. This stock-buying of PPE has caused its demand to far exceed its existing supply, leaving both civilians and healthcare professionals alike without access to them.

In light of the lack of supply, many are sewing their own masks at home, and companies in various industries have also started producing masks. The increased individual production of masks have enabled many to use them as a creative outlet for fashion.

Community members, including Mattie Taormina and Julie Taylor, have taken matters into their own hands and are giving back to their communities by donating their homemade masks.

“My next-door neighbor gave me some elastic, old aprons and bedsheets she didn’t want and I made a prototype, (which) worked. Next, I made masks for her, (myself ) and my family,” Taormina said. “As the pandemic raged on, I thought this would be a way for me to help my community, so I have been volunteering my time to make these after I get off work and on the weekends.”

What started out as simply making masks for Taormina’s family has since turned into a community-wide project. Taormina said she initially started out small, offering each of her 14 masks to anyone in Palo Alto who needed it. 11 minutes after Taormina made her post, all the masks were gone and had received 55 requests for more.

“I’m blown away, actually,” Taormina said. “To date, I have successfully supplied 311 face coverings for people. Some of my creations have been shipped

Producing these shields is not cheap, though; Duong said they can cost up to $2 each to produce. To support these costs, Duong said his team has set up a GoFundMe, raising nearly $7,000 as of May 7.

Duong also said they are attempting to find ways to use less expensive materials such as elastic, 3D printing filament and thin plastic.

“We either directly buy the materials, (or) partner with a bunch of companies locally and also all across the country who have generously supplied us with free filament, plastic and 3D printers,” Duong said.

Duong said finding places to donate the shields is easy, as many organizations such as Kaiser Permanente and Palo Alto Medical Foundation have expressed a need for them.

“We just search up, for example, nursing homes and hospitals near us and contact them,” Duong said. “A lot of places also email us directly asking for face shields.”

Duong said this project has been a rewarding experience for him and his team, as he’s been able to use his skills to help the community.

“It’s kind of cool to see us use our knowledge and apply it into the real world for a good cause,” Duong said. “It’s also kind of like running a startup a little bit: (we’re making) our own product, marketing it and trying to get it out there.”

Meanwhile, sophomore Freddie Kiessling has started his own tutoring service called Palo Alto Free Tutoring to help out with the negative effects of online schooling on some students.

“There’s homework, and it’s hard to understand because it’s online, especially when you are watching a video because it’s different from an in-classroom experience,” Kiessling said. “I thought it was a good idea to tutor people because I saw that my two siblings need a lot of help, and my parents are both working jobs from home so they can’t really help.”

To follow through on his idea, Kiessling gathered some friends overseas to Holland. This really made me feel good that I’m helping to make our citizens feel more comfortable in this uneasy time.”

Taylor, too, has decided to use her talent to help others in need during the pandemic.

“I was inspired to sew free reusable masks because I was seeing in the news that many in the medical community had a need for them,” Taylor said.

Taylor said she has donated her masks to her friends and family, medical clinics, Palo Alto Unified School District bus drivers and more. “This really made me feel good that I’m helping to make our citizens feel more comfortable in this uneasy time.”

Julie Taylor

Taylor had little initial experience with sewing, and said that anyone can make their own mask.

“I have a sewing machine (and some) basic sewing knowledge. I also had a stash of donated fabric, thread and time to make them,” Taylor said. “Once you know what kind of mask the organization needs, you’ll eventually streamline your process and will be able to mass-produce them at a quicker rate.”

AUSTIN XIANG/THE CAMPANILE

and began reaching out to the Palo Alto community.

“We made an online website and sent out an email to different schools, like JLS Middle School,” Kiessling said. “Kids started contacting us, and right now we have around four kids that we are all tutoring.”

Kiessling said it took him some time to get the tutoring service started.

“For the website, it took me a couple of days to add people, make the structure or write down contact information,” Kiessling said. “In the case of teaching, I’ve done around 25 hours in the last two weeks.” ART BY RAQUEL CANTANEO JOSEPH

The demand for face coverings is higher than ever, and with the national lack of medical-grade masks, people have been forced to search for new ways to stay protected. Etsy, a commerce website, disclosed that between April 4 and 6, people searched for masks on the site an average of 9 times per second, totaling more than 2 million searches in less than 72 hours. Supply on Etsy has also exploded, and the number of mask sellers on the site quadrupled in the last week of March and the first week of April.

Celebrities like Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande have also made an effort to help the music community during the pandemic. These celebrities are selling cloth masks through the “We’ve Got You Covered Project,” where 100% of the proceeds go to the MusiCares organization, which helps out members of the music community by covering a wide range of financial, medical and personal emergencies.

Large companies have also started producing masks and making donations. Dicks Sporting Goods, Forever 21, Amazon and Disney have all added masks to their shelves, and a new company, MaskClub, which launched on April 10, offers subscriptions for monthly face masks.

Put together in four days by Trevor George, also known as the CEO of Trevco, MaskClub uses their funds to help support first responders while allowing customers to personalize their masks with characters including the Powerpuff Girls, Batman and Hello Kitty.

To follow the social distancing guidelines, Kiessling said that he utilizes a platform called UberConference, which has all the features of Zoom without the basic meeting time limit.

“I don’t use Zoom because Zoom only goes for 40 minutes, and I normally do an hour to two hours,” Kiessling said. “I just send a link to a person and they just click on it and join, and you can share screens like (on) Zoom.”

Kiessling said running this tutoring service has paid off for his students and for himself.

“It’s definitely satisfying knowing that I helped a student with a particular assignment (or quiz) she was struggling on,” Kiessling said.

Paly junior Tommy Hall said he is also working to give back to his community by volunteering with the East Palo Alto Boys and Girls Club food drive.

“At first it was just my mom saying that they needed help, and obviously we had nothing better to do with our time,” Hall said. “But

By Ziggy Tummalapalli Sports Editor

About 20 cars with balloons and signs drove down Byron Street in-between Kellogg Avenue and Embarcadero Road honking their horns on April 9, all for one fifth-grader Sam Miller’s birthday.

The novel state-mandated shelter-in-place has put a hold on and canceled many annual events and celebrations, however, many Palo Altans are finding alternatives for the ways they normally celebrate special occasions.

The Miller family in Palo Alto came up with the idea of a drive-by birthday party for their son.

“We thought it would be super fun to surprise him,” junior Alli Miller said. “She really wanted him to feel special and celebrated on his birthday even though it wasn’t possible to do something in person.”

Miller said the celebration was a unique experience for the family, who normally go out and eat with their extended family and then celebrate at home with friends on typical birthdays.

Despite the change in plans and despite being unable to celebrate in close proximity with family and friends, Sam said his party was as enjoyable as previous birthday celebrations.

“It was really fun to see everyone I knew and it was a big surprise,” he said. “People had a ton of signs with my face on it. They had balloons and everyone was honking.”

Another holiday, the Jewish celebration of Passover, is one that has gone by during the stayat-home order, leaving many families to improvise celebrations. One of these families being the Spier family, who had a large Zoom meeting with family, according to Paly junior Libby Spier.

“During the meeting we had a Seder, and went through the programs each of us had,” Spier said.

According to Spier, their family typically has a celebration with about 20 people that includes family friends from their synagogue. Because there once I started going, I really liked it because everyone there is really great, and it’s a fun environment to be in, especially when you’re doing something good.”

Hall said he and the others who volunteer for the food drive with the East Palo Alto Boys and Girls club all have the same goal.

“We’re just trying to feed the hungry,” Hall said. “The goal is to be able to give food to everyone who (cannot access it) or cannot afford it themselves. (We) try and go two or three times a week, and usually spend two or three hours there each time we go.” were less people, that also meant less food, and a more miniature celebration than normal, which isn’t how it should normally be, according to Spier.

“It was definitely a smaller celebration this year because it was only the five of us, and therefore was much quieter and not as big of an event,” Spier said. “Jewish holidays are supposed to be spent with people you care about and people you love so being alone as a family was sad.”

“For me, it was important for me to do something with family, just to see their faces and keep the tradition alive.”

Caitlyn Evans

However, despite the celebration not being what it normally is, there was some consolation found in being able to have at least some sort of celebration rather than none, according to Spier.

“These times are crazy and disappointing, so it was nice to be able to have the Seder and have one thing that was somewhat constant,” Spier said.

Easter also occurred during the shelter-in-place order, forcing families to have to pivot from their traditional celebration rituals.

Hall said he and the other volunteers start serving meals at 6 p.m. to the cars coming through.

“You just ask for how many (meals) they need, and you put the (number) of meals they ask for on the table in front of you, and they have to come out and get it,” Hall said. “You can’t really be (handing meals) to people because (there’s) a lot more (risk for) cross-contamination if you do that.”

Hall said that in just one day the Boys and Girls Club food drive gave out over 2,000 meals, served hot.

He also added that more Paly students should volunteer as the food drive could always use more help.

Hall said he has learned a lot about what the less fortunate have to go through during this pandemic.

“(The food drive) was eye-opening because I was able to view what it was like for those who aren’t as lucky as I am,” Hall said. “It really

wrong: instead of sing

makes me appreciate what I have.” ALLI MILLER/USED WITH PERMISSION

Paly history teacher Caitlin Evans said she found an entertaining substitute for her familiar Easter celebrations.

“I hid Easter eggs for the week before Easter in the garden of my house,” Evans said. “I’d move them every morning and people walking by would look for them.”

Since Easter, Evans has switched to hiding dinosaurs in her yard, which has attracted numerous neighbors.

“I have a handful of regulars who can’t finish their walks unless they find them all,” Evans said. “This includes a number of older couples who stop every day to look, and I’ve met some neighbors I never would have otherwise met, which is really fun.”

Evans said her family normally has a big celebration on Easter with extended family and lots of food. They have a Bonnet parade and create hats and compete for prizes with each other. This year, they had to do all of these festivities through Zoom.

“It was actually really fun,” Evans said. “My cousins from all over the world were there… we all got on wearing crazy hats and explained what we’d created them out of.”

For Evans, a celebration that stretched out beyond her household was paramount to maintain her annual family rituals.

“For me it was important for me to do something with family, just to see their faces and keep the tradition alive,” Evans said. “We’ll all remember it as the Easter we had over the internet.”