Emma Kielmeier, a senior at Saranac Lake High School, poses at home with one of the school’s 3D printers, which she is using to make face shields for health care workers. (Provided photo — Adrienne Relyea)

A growing network of North Country residents is using 3D printers to make face shields that protect local health care workers from coronavirus.

This project started off small but quickly expanded and now includes volunteers from 12 to 70 years of age. There are individuals, businesses, and schools and universities involved.

They now have upward of 40 volunteers printing and plan to make a minimum of 2,000 face shields for hospitals, private practices, nursing homes and first responders.

“We’ve been in touch with them, they’ve been in touch with our clinicians to make sure they’re making stuff that we’ll use, and it’s been wildly successful,” Adirondack Health spokesman Matt Scollin said Thursday.

“While it’s been a team effort, we have to give enormous credit to Northwood School Assistant Head of School Tom Broderick and Beekmantown Central School District Superintendent Dan Mannix, both of whom jumped in with both feet to provide their impressive facilities, faculty and, in the case of Beekmantown, the use their STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) grant toward this program,” said organizer Andrea Audi. “They should be proud of their educational vision to invest in these facilities, and just as much for the model of commitment to community that they are demonstrating to their students and staff.”

Dylan Murnane, a senior at Saranac Lake High School, uses one of the school’s å3D printers at home to make parts for face shields for health care workers. (Photo provided)

Brad Rafferty, a math and science teacher at Saranac Lake High School, and Brian LaVallee, a technology teacher in Lake Placid schools, have also “been central to research and design,” Audi said. “They’ve overseen production, and they’ve served as tech support for volunteer printers throughout northern New York.”

Both teachers assigned students ways to help out during this pandemic. Rafferty gave 3D printers to Saranac Lake High School seniors Emma Kielmeier and Dylan Murnane so they could print face shields from home.

Not only are high schoolers getting involved, but so are faculty, staff and alumni from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh.

SUNY Plattsburgh’s Upward Bound, a college preparation program for local high schoolers, also recently got involved. Upward Bound bought 3D printers for students to use and learn from.

“It’s the first time I have ever done the actual printing myself,” Upward Bound director Brian Post said, “I had to come up to speed pretty quickly, too.”

Jillian Robinson, a senior at Lake Placid High School, works on a face shield model for health workers as part of a class on 3D design and modeling. (Photo provided)

Post isn’t working alone. His daughter Allison, who goes to college in Ithaca, recently returned home because of COVID-19, and she is now helping him make face shields as a way to get community service hours for her college.

“This is one of those crises that we never lived through, and you sort of feel helpless, you know?” Post said. “If you can do something to help out, especially the front-line workers who are out there risking themselves, it’s definitely gratifying to be able to do that.”

For more information or to volunteer, go to ny3Dnetwork.com. First responders and health care providers in need of face shields can contact ny3dnetwork@gmail.com.

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Managing Editor Peter Crowley contributed to this report.