MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators Executive Director Kevin Farr is pleased to share that numerous vocational schools in Massachusetts have donated personal protective equipment (PPE) this spring to support first responders and medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Districts across the state closed in mid-March in an effort to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). In the days after schools closed their facilities, administrators, faculty and staff came together to assess the supplies they had from various career technical education programs, pack up the items and coordinate donations to organizations in need statewide.
“There were thousands of masks, tens of thousands of gloves, donated in this initiative,” Farr said. “Pretty much everything that can be donated has been donated, and I think it’s a great testament to the role vocational schools play in their communities. I personally want to thank the individual schools on behalf of myself and my family, because the material that was donated could help health care workers take care of someone I know.”
Across the state, more than 13,400 masks and 140,000 gloves were donated by vocational schools, as well as supplies including protective eye equipment, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, various types of gowns, and other supplies.
“We are part of the community, and we all play a role,” Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School Superintendent Robert Dutch said. “For us, donating these critically needed supplies represents doing our part.”
“We have the resources to be able to help where the need is, and from everything we’ve read and everyone we’ve talked to, there is a need for more PPE,” said Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School Director of Workforce Development and Adult Education Bonnie Carr. “When this first happened and we had to leave the building, we distributed all that we had.”
Schools that donated PPE include:
- Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School
- Blackstone Valley Regional Vocational Technical High School
- Blue Hills Regional Technical School
- Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School
- Dean Technical High School
- Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School
- Greater Lawrence Technical School
- Greater Lowell Technical High School
- Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School
- Keefe Regional Technical School
- Leominster High School Center for Technical Education Innovation
- McCann Technical School
- Medford Vocational Technical High School
- Minuteman Technical Institute
- Montachusetts Regional Vocational Technical School
- Nashoba Valley Technical High School
- Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational High School
- Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School
- Pathfinder Vocational Technical High School
- Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School
- Somerville Public School sCenter for Career and Technical Education
- Tantasqua Regional and Union 61 School Districts
- Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School
- Upper Cape Cod Regional Technical School
- Watertown Public Schools
- Westfield Public Schools
- Whittier Regional Vocational Technical High School
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