Minuteman High Donates PPE To First Responders, Hospital

LEXINGTON, MA — Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School donated more than 300 packages of personal protective equipment to the Lexington and Lincoln police and fire departments, along with Emerson Hospital in Concord, to assist in the coronavirus response.

Minuteman joins several other vocational-technical high schools across Massachusetts that have donated items such as face and respirator masks, hospital gowns, gloves, eyewear, and hand sanitizer amid a global shortage of such items during the public health crisis.

The school has personal protective equipment on hand for students in programs such as biotechnology, environmental science, health assisting, culinary arts, cosmetology, automotive technology, electrical, carpentry, and others.

In a Facebook post, the Lexington Police Department wrote, “Huge thank you to Minuteman Tech High School for the donation of much needed gloves and masks to us and Lincoln Police. More and more of these items are getting hard to come by.”

The Lincoln Police Department wrote on Facebook: “Thank you so much to Minuteman… who donated personal protective equipment to Lincoln & Lexington police and firefighters. We’re certainly receiving this in a time of need as such equipment is on back order.”

“The police, fire, and medical workers in our communities are putting their health at risk everyday to care for us during this unprecedented emergency,” said Edward A. Bouquillon, Superintendent-Director for Minuteman. “At Minuteman High School, many of our students are the next generation of nurses and EMTs. Helping one another through any sort of crisis is part of who we are.”

The distribution of personal protective equipment was organized by Michelle Roche, Minuteman’s career technical education director. By design, only a small number of staff participated in collecting the materials in order to practice social distancing: Brian Tildsley, assistant principal; Richard Ikonen, facilities director; Al St. George, electrical instructor; Cynthia DeMaio, cosmetology instructor; Terence Regan, environmental science instructor; and Dan O’Brien, communications director.

Minuteman is closed through April 6 in accordance with Governor Baker’s statewide order. Students are engaging in online enrichment learning.