Alexander W Dreyfoos School of the Arts high school student Byron Matysek, 18, creates innovative solution to reduce the spread of COVID-19 at gas stations.
Disposable gloves mount in a small pouch on vehicle fuel doors to protect gas station patrons.
Gas stations, convenience stores, employers, and branding specialists pick up innovative product solution, “Fuel Door Gloves.”
Byron Matysek, 18, a high school senior, along with his father, Christopher Matysek, have developed a unique concept to protect patrons at gas stations from COVID-19.
It is now possible to safely pump gas without touching potentially contaminated gas nozzles or electric car charging plugs. The disposable gloves are stored in a small pouch, conveniently attached to the inside of the vehicle’s fuel door.
“We worked together on the idea, and now we have a provisional patent,” explains Christopher, Byron’s father. “I am so proud of the work my son has done as a high school senior. He wants to help people stay safe during the pandemic, and he is making a difference!”
Most Americans get gas every 7 to 10 days, which means touching those filthy nozzles 3 or 4 times a month. Reuters(TM) reports, “Gas pump handles turned out to be the filthiest surface that Americans encounter on the way to work,” based on a study by Kimberly-Clark(TM). So, avoiding touching those gas pump handles helps reduce exposure to all kinds of germs, not just COVID-19.
The Bretheim Family explains, “We count on Fuel Door Gloves to keep us safe and to not bring the virus home with us. We know that our family can stay safe even when we still have to travel to work, keeping our family safe using Fuel Door Gloves that we can have delivered right to our door!”
Having gloves handy makes a difference in every situation during the pandemic. The hardest part is making sure you always have the gloves where you need them when you need them. That is the ingenious part of the Fuel Door Gloves. They are always right where you need them when you need them.
Byron and Christopher hope that families all across the nation follow the Bretheim family example. Using Fuel Door Gloves at the gas station and while recharging electric cars shows how this 18 year-old high-schooler is fighting the virus One-Glove-At-A-Time.
Fuel Door Gloves LLC Byron Matysek (561) 231-0099 www.FuelDoorGloves.com
The Department of Health (DH) today (August 30) announced that starting from September 1, three of its Student Health Service Centres (SHSCs), namely Shek Wu Hui SHSC, Tai Po SHSC and Tsz Wan Shan Wu York Yu SHSC, will resume operation to provide annual health assessment services for Primary One, Primary Two and Secondary One students in the school year 2020/21.
Apart from the three aforementioned SHSCs, the services are also provided at Chai Wan SHSC, Kowloon Bay SHSC, Kowloon City Lions Clubs SHSC, Lam Tin SHSC, Sha Tin SHSC, South Kwai Chung SHSC, Tuen Mun SHSC and Western SHSC. Parents will be notified of the specific arrangements of the health assessment.
For enquiries, please contact the centres concerned during service hours: Monday to Friday, 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 6pm (except public holidays). Tai Po SHSC is closed on Wednesdays. Details of the centres are available at www.studenthealth.gov.hk/english/centre/centre.html.
Meanwhile, the DH will continue to implement stringent infection control measures at service units including all clients with appointments and visitors must put on surgical masks and have their body temperature checked.
The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (August 24) visited Miss Josy Chow, who is on a short-term internship at the Labour Department at Harbour Building, Sheung Wan, to show her care for her.
Miss Chow, though suffering from spinal muscular atrophy, has been working very hard with the support of her family and is in the fourth year of her undergraduate programme at the University of Hong Kong. During this summer holiday, she has participated in the Civil Service Bureau’s internship scheme for students with disabilities and has worked for seven weeks at the Hong Kong Office of the Selective Placement Division of the Labour Department, assisting employment consultants to help job seekers with disabilities and producing publicity materials.
Mrs Lam has met Miss Chow many times. She said she was pleased to know that Miss Chow’s health condition has improved in recent years with drug support and that she has enjoyed her internship and wishes to join the civil service in the future.
“Despite her serious illness, Miss Chow has always maintained a positive attitude towards life. After being admitted to the University of Hong Kong earlier, she has been planning to enter the job market. Her strong determination is admirable. The Government attaches great importance to the well-being of persons with disabilities. It will continue to implement various measures to promote employment of persons with disabilities, allowing them to contribute to society by showcasing their own abilities in different positions.
“The Government also actively promotes disability sports to allow persons with disabilities to display their strengths through sports. The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games opened tonight and Hong Kong has sent 24 athletes to take part in eight sports. Given the excellent results achieved by Hong Kong athletes in previous Paralympic Games, I encourage members of the public to support our athletes through TV broadcasts to motivate them to strive for good results,” Mrs Lam said.
The Civil Service Bureau has run an internship scheme for students with disabilities since 2016 to provide opportunities for them to gain work experience in the Government. This scheme is different from other government internship schemes as it contains a lot of training elements. Relevant departments have to provide appropriate training and briefings for the interns and assign an experienced officer to be the mentor of each intern to enable civil service colleagues to appreciate the talents and potential of the students. A total of 58 students with disabilities from tertiary institutions joined this year’s internship scheme.
Battle Ground, Wash. – Two school districts in Washington state are trusting First Student to provide safe and reliable transportation for thousands of students and their families. Battle Ground Public Schools and the Hockinson School District will partner with the company to enhance the bus-riding experience beginning in the 2021-2022 school year.
Students in both districts will ride brand-new school buses with industry-leading technology. All 170 buses in the fleet will be equipped with GPS tracking systems, digital cameras and DriverHubTM onboard driver tablets. The tablets provide advanced views of bus routes and turn-by-turn directions, as well as a real-time traffic check.
“Many of our students and their families rely on the bus to get to and from school each day,” said Battle Ground Public Schools Superintendent Denny Waters. “We appreciate the breadth and depth of experience First Student has in full-service student transportation management. We believe they are the right partner to help meet our objective of providing safe, reliable and efficient transportation.”
Families will benefit from First Student’s full industry-leading technology suite. With the FirstView® District Dashboard and Parent App, school administrators can streamline daily decision-making through centralized, real-time fleet reporting. Parents can be alerted about school delays or issues through the secure bus-tracking app.
“We were impressed by First Student’s industry-leading safety record, rigorous driver training programs and adoption of new technologies,” said Hockinson School District Superintendent Steven Marshall. “We are confident First Student has the insights and expertise needed to drive our district forward.”
The districts will have access to two innovative web-based communications tools, FirstACTS® and First Feedback. FirstACTS helps manage the process of tracking student conduct on the bus. First Feedback collects, addresses and tracks various comments from parents, school district officials and the community.
First Student also will implement an industry-leading approach to transporting students with disabilities. The FirstServes program contains comprehensive and clinically proven tools, ongoing communication guidelines, and enhanced training for drivers and monitors to provide a better experience for special population students who require extra care.
“First Student has led the school bus industry in applying service-enhancing technologies into our operations,” said First Student Area General Manager Greg Newman. “We look forward to extending the benefits of these technologies to our new school district partners in Battle Ground and Hockinson. We believe their families will appreciate how these innovations will improve the journey to and from school.”
The districts also will utilize First Planning Solutions. The company’s dedicated routing division will develop bus routes to improve efficiency and reduce operating costs.
First Student is the most chosen school transportation provider in North America. The company has partnered with school districts for more than a century to deliver tailored student transportation solutions.
About First Student
As the leading school transportation solutions provider in North America, First Student strives to provide the best start and finish to every school day. First Student completes five million student journeys each day, moving more passengers than all U.S. airlines combined. With a team of highly-trained drivers and the industry’s strongest safety record, First Student delivers reliable, quality services including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, route optimization and scheduling, maintenance, and charter services with a fleet of about 40,000 buses. For more information, please visit
firststudentinc.com.
With estimates that nearly half of students attending colleges and universities do not have the financial means to afford balanced meals, a new organization, Student LunchBox (SLB), was formed to deliver meals and boarding essentials to low-income college students to reduce the hardships of hunger.
The startup Los Angeles-based Student LunchBox, a 501(c) approved nonprofit charity, is currently seeking grants. “We aim to build a one-of-a-kind organization that specifically serves the low-income college population,” the founder, Karlen Nurijanyan, reported.
“Too often, students are forced to skip meals, take hunger naps, sleep in their cars, or find themselves in a state of virtual poverty and homelessness, all ‘in the name of Higher Education,'” Nurijanyan said. “Recent studies show that nearly half of the college students do not know where their next meal will come from, leading to hunger insecurity which directly impacts student graduation rates. SLB was created for this reason to respond quickly with one of the most critical resources students need: food. Campus hunger has been rooted in our communities for over a decade, and unfortunately, this problem remains unspoken. We believe that college students are the forgotten group when we speak of hunger,” Nurijanyan adds.
Student LunchBox solicits and distributes food and other essentials to low-income college students who otherwise cannot afford balanced meals. The organization currently supports community college food pantries by keeping their shelves full with food and supplies. In the future, SLB will offer a food box program available for pick-up for all students in need and offer its delivery services to all students with disabilities who cannot commute to SLB’s facility. All the services provided to students by SLB are entirely free.
“Our services include weekly food boxes and other essentials including bed and bath supplies, and necessities for students with children, including baby wipes, diapers, and everything else that is fundamental to students’ academic success,” Nurijanyan said.
Initially, Student LunchBox will focus on colleges and universities in Los Angeles before expanding to other cities and states.
“Our approach to fighting campus hunger is simple,” Nurijanyan said. “We build partnerships with local businesses and distributors, community retailers, local food growers, farmer markets, and other partners who donate safe and nutritious foods that otherwise end up in landfills. As a charitable food distributor, our prime responsibility is to support environmental sustainability, help reduce waste and support college students who do not have enough to eat.”
Student LunchBox is currently raising money to secure a cargo van and equipment to begin its operations. “We are diligently working to raise seed money that can help us commence our operations. For now, our main priority is to purchase a cargo van for our full-time solicitation purposes. We are currently in a partnership with a large food distributor that will help us rescue thousands of pounds of food every week. In addition, we are also desperately looking to rent a suitable facility, purchase refrigeration, supplies, partner with local businesses and food banks, and invite volunteers to support our fantastic mission,” Karlen Nurijanyan reports.
For more information about Student LunchBox, including how to make a donation or in-kind contribution, please visit www.studentlunchbox.org
Contact
