As part of efforts to celebrate National Charter Schools Week, Harmony Public Schools joined a select group of schools being recognized by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools as Above and Beyond Award honorees.
In selecting Harmony as an award winner, the National Alliance said in a news release Tuesday that the district at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic assessed the needs of students, their families and the community, and quickly mobilized.
The Above and Beyond Award recognizes schools that took the extra step to serve not only their own students, but also the broader community during the coronavirus pandemic, despite all the challenges that came with transitioning to online learning.
Specifically, the award recognizes staff at Harmony Public Schools in Texas and its school in Houston for producing face shields and medical supplies for Houston-area health-care workers and first responders on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19.
The school gave its team carte blanche to manufacture protective medical gear and equipment. Within a couple days, 100 Harmony staff members volunteered and got trained about how to make face shields using 3-D printers and they’ve since donated more than 3,000 face shields in coordination with county and health officials across Texas, the National Alliance said in a news release. Each face shield takes roughly five hours to manufacture and costs around $1 to make.
Additionally, Harmony Public Schools staff members have served more than 350,000 meals to children in their communities across Texas, the release stated.
