The following was posted on Jamie Meier’s LiveLoveLens blog on April 27, and is being reprinted here with her permission:
These two South Orange Middle School (SOMS) teachers are #SOMAWESOME. #SOMAWESOME means super amazing, charitable humans in the Maplewood/South Orange community.
They are going above and beyond to make sure our front-line workers are protected.
Jake Ezzo (Chorus Director) and Brandon Hillman (Language Arts) are middle school educators by day, 3D face shield printers by night. They have single-handedly organized hundreds of local volunteers to print, assemble, and deliver over 12,000 face shields to physicians, nurses, and medical staff during this global pandemic.
Many of the volunteers are Ezzo and Hillman’s SOMS students and families, as well as their friends and neighbors throughout Maplewood and South Orange. They are printing visor pieces on 3D printers (each piece takes one hour). Then they are assembling the visors with elastic and clasps, and then making sure they get into the right hands at medical facilities across NJ, NY, and PA.
When Ezzo and Hillman are not organizing this massive face shield effort, they are writing and composing songs to keep their students spirits up during this time.
Please take a minute to check out the links here and thank these teachers for being such incredible role models and citizens.
Join their Facebook group to help with assembly.
Follow their efforts on Instagram!
Donations greatly appreciated.
