Southlake, TX – April 8, 2020 – The Clariden School, a North Texas leader in accredited, private Pre-K – High School STEAM education, delivered 3D printed face shields to the Southlake Fire Department today as well as the Dallas Anesthesiology Associates office to help fulfill the much needed PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) crisis. 

The idea stemmed from a Clariden high school senior in hopes of keeping his mother protected while at work. His mother, a doctor at Dallas Anesthesiology Associates, talked to him about the lack of resources they have in order to keep protected during the CoVid-19 pandemic. He quickly realized he had the knowledge and resources at home and school to help with the need. He enlisted two other classmates and a Clariden teacher to help design and produce the face shields. He also asked help from his mom to ensure the product was correct and useful. The students began producing the face shields using home and school 3D printers (a Clariden teacher helped at school as campus is currently closed) as well as a Cricut  machine. After the first few were made they were delivered by his mother for herself and her co-workers.

“My staff member reached out to me earlier this week to let me know about the idea and to ask permission to use the 3D printers and resources at the school. My first reaction was “Our students continually amaze me!’ ” said Sallie Wells, Head of School. “My second reaction was ‘Let’s utilize what we have to print what we can.’ ” She continued to say "At Clariden, our students are very accustom to taking on a challenge and doing projects. They wanted to help and saw an opportunity to put their skill set to work to provide support for our community's front line workers. Every day, I'm amazed by the intellectual and creative abilities of our students. I have never been so proud of them and their amazing hearts." This led to the idea of helping the immediate community surrounding the school. A phone call was made to the Southlake Fire Department to see if they could use the face shields and a resounding YES was the answer.

A partnership was formed today! The Cariden student behind this project dropped off 10 PPE face shields to Jeremy Blackwell, Battalion Chief at Station 3. He also promised that more will be delivered after they are produced. Battalion Chief Blackwell will continue to accept these donations and distribute them to the other fire houses.

“Every day, I'm amazed by the intellectual and creative abilities of our students. I have never been so proud of them and their amazing hearts." said Wells. Three students pooled their knowledge and resources to fulfill a much needed protection resource during this time of crisis. Hopefully others will be inspired by these three students and utilize their resources as well.