Two Clear Creek ISD siblings are among the Bay Area residents helping provide essential workers with protective face masks, all while engaging in distance learning, according to a news release from the district.
Clear Springs High School sophomore Michelle and Creekside Intermediate School eighth-grader Nicholas Davis have made more than 40 masks and 100 ear-relief straps on top of their schoolwork. The masks are being given to first responders and hospital workers for free, or they are available to purchase for $5 each, per the release.
Michelle first began sewing masks for her family after finding design patterns online. Soon after, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revised recommendations for wearing masks in public to further prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Once the siblings’ mother posted on a Facebook community page about the homemade masks, community requests skyrocketed, from neighbors to nurses and police officers, per the release.
The children’s father, Nick Davis, said in the release that Nicholas is more into robotics, electronics and 3-D printing, so Nicholas researched designs for mask ear-relief straps. The flexible straps are roughly 7 inches long and are meant to relieve tension on the ear. Nicholas prints them himself, which takes about 3 1/2 hours for 10 units, while Michelle irons, pins and sews together the masks, each of which take 10 to 15 minutes.
