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Kirtland High School Teacher and Students Making Homemade Face Masks

A Kirtland High School (KHS) teacher and student are putting their sewing skills to work in creating homemade face masks for friends and family.

KHS English teacher Jennifer Berry, whose husband Rich is a family medicine doctor with Lake Health Physician Group Lake County Family Practice, initially made a mask out of ducky material for him. After a few weeks of mostly telemedicine visits, Dr. Berry was returning to inpatient visits and had to wear a cloth mast in and out of the building, and a surgical mask in the practice.

“I had the ducky material from a baby blanket I never managed to make,” said Jennifer Berry. “As Rich has many pediatric patients, he was pretty excited about the fabric.

“I found a pattern that can be worn over personal protective equipment or can be worn on the face. The design has ties, which is tricky but helpful for our medical friends.”

Berry is making masks for other family members – including her mother, a social worker at TriPoint Medical Center, and her sister, who has diabetes. Berry was a fashion design major before switching to English in college, so she’s comfortable around a sewing machine.

KHS sophomore Reilly Greenlee and her grandmother have made 36 masks so far for family and friends to keep everyone safe while going out. They bought materials from Walmart and Amazon.

“We started making masks because I had just gotten a sewing machine a couple months ago, and learning how to use it has been keeping us busy,” said Reilly. “The masks have a nose adjustment and a pocket for filters, as well as being washable.”