CHARLOTTE — Holy Trinity Middle School’s Odyssey of the Mind Team took home a first-place award from the N.C. Central Region Odyssey of the Mind Tournament Feb. 29 at Wingate University and are competing virtually in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals this month.
Team members (pictured from left) are Rocio Vega-Saenz, Montsi McGee, Ally Breeyear, Michaela Hilley and Sabrina Hankins.
They competed in the regional tournament’s Division 2/Problem 2, in which teams were challenged to design and create a network system to transmit an image, text and e-mail and then present their solution in a live performance that included pop-up advertisements, team-made musical instruments, an original song, a malware character, three network characters and an anti-virus hero character.
With the in-person tournament canceled in lieu of a virtual competition because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the team donated the funds they would have used for tournament travel to the Levine Children’s Hospital.
— Photo provided by Stephanie Gulla Hilley
CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte Catholic High School community has a reputation for helping others, especially during times of hardship. Now, the high school is responding to the local need to equip health care workers who are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic with personal protection equipment (PPE).
In late March, a student informed school staff that parents in the school community who are health care workers were in need of PPE to do their jobs safely. The student suggested CCHS join the fight against COVID-19 by printing 3D masks at the school.
Staff immediately responded to Principal Kurt Telford’s call for action.
Dr. Leo Maganares, CCHS engineering professor, and Joann Keane, photography and digital media instructor, have teamed up on the 3D printing project.
“Joann and I made different designs using AutoCAD and on March 25 we tested the first 3D printed models,” Maganares said.
“It takes approximately four hours to create one full set of face shield and facemask. We use two 3D printers for each set. It takes approximately three and a half hours to print a face shield and four hours to print a facemask,” he explained.
Several other faculty, staff and parents are helping them with the project. Health care workers who are members of the CCHS community will receive the PPE at the high school at a designated time.
“The production will be an ongoing process and the sets will be delivered in increments to meet the urgent needs of our community. We anticipate to reach 1,000 sets by the end of April,” Maganares said.
Grants from the CCHS Foundation and the CCHS Alumni Association will provide essential funding for the project and enable them to buy more 3D printers to produce 2,000 sets of PPE at a cost of $11.25 per set.
Maganares noted, “The purpose of our action has many angles. First, we are a Catholic school and we stand by our brothers and sisters in need. Second, we are educators, and we have a moral responsibility to show our students that CCHS is an active family in the community, and, last and foremost, as Americans we never quit.”
Maganares believes the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportunity for students to get involved as citizens in their community. “Challenging times bring people closer and make them more responsible and considerate,” he said.
“I am grateful to the Charlotte Catholic Foundation and the Charlotte Catholic Alumni Association for their generosity,” Telford said. “Dr. Leo has quietly and without fanfare spent many hours setting up and monitoring the production process. It is an example of what the greater Catholic community does when there is a need.”
Added Keane, “As we celebrate the Year of St. Joseph, the builder, in some small way are we continuing his mission with 21st century tools to build, create and help our community, our family in faith.”
Pictured above: Dr. Leo Maganares, professor of engineering at CCHS in Charlotte, models one of the PPE sets that CCHS is producing to protect local health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter.
Want to help?
Donate to CCHS Foundation at https://www.cchsfoundation.org/donate or CCHS Alumni Association: https://bit.ly/3eDaKQk.Specify for CCHS PPE effort.