Hopkins Heroes

DR. FRANKLIN SYLVESTER ’10

Pediatrics resident at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, treating COVID-19 cases during the NYC outbreak in March

BEN ’17 & WILL ’16 COLLIER

Started a nonprofit connecting farmers with produce going to waste with food banks in need

Teacher & Parent

Organized thousands of PPE donations from China for first responders

DR. STEPHEN SCHOLAND

Parent

Infectious Disease Infectious Physician, Midstate Physician, Midstate Medical Center, Medical Center, Meriden, CT Meriden, CT

ANDREA BOISSEVAIN ’78

Director of Health for Stratford, CT

CARLY SLAGER ’21

Made hundreds of fabric masks for neighbors and essential workers As the United States began to feel the eff ects of the surge of COVID-19 cases throughout March and April of 2020, the Hopkins School Alumni

Offi ce began to hear stories of alumni, parents, faculty, and students who were stepping up and doing great things to help in their community. An open call for nominations was put out to the wider Hopkins community to recognize a Hopkins Hero. Th e individuals on this page represent essential workers, medical professionals, home sewers and makers, volunteers, and entrepreneurs who were featured on Hopkins’ social media and website throughout April and May of 2020.  Please visit hopkins.edu/hopkins-heroes to read their stories in full. Turn the page to read the stories of three more Hopkins Heroes.

TODD RAGAZA ’93

Used 3-D printing skills to make PPE for first responders nationwide

DAVID JUDD ’20

Volunteered to deliver food to families in need from the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen in New Haven, CT

DR. PAIGE ARMSTRONG ’02

Epidemiologist tracking the spread of COVID-19 in the United States

DR. RICHARD CHUNG ’96

Director of Adolescent Medicine, Duke Children’s Hospital

PEDRO SOTO ’95 I t’s been quite a year for Pedro Soto ’95. In October 2019, the New Haven native purchased Hygrade Precision Technologies, a precision grinding/lapping and CNC machining company that manufactures parts for the aerospace, medical, and defense industries. His years of experience working in his father’s company, Space-Craft Manufacturing, gave him a leg up in the business, and he was excited about his new venture. Little did he know that a looming worldwide health crisis would soon alter life as we know it, and that he himself would play a vital role in fi ghting a pandemic. Just a few short months after Hygrade opened its doors, coronavirus swept rapidly through the country and particularly the tri-state area, upending businesses and sending healthcare organizations and workers into overdrive. Hospitals were being fl ooded with COVID patients, and critical protective equipment was running dangerously low. As President of the Aerospace Component Manufacturers (ACM) Association, Pedro became a pivotal force in helping to secure this desperately needed equipment. As early as March 2020, the ACM began fi elding calls for help from multiple healthcare organizations, including Yale New Haven Hospital, in obtaining plastic face shields that could free up the limited supply of N95 masks for coronavirus-related care. Pedro immediately began spreading the word to the ACM’s member companies, getting dozens on board to tap their supply chains and pivot their assembly lines to manufacture the urgently needed items.

Meanwhile, he continued at the helm of Hygrade, deemed by Gov. Ned Lamont as an “essential business” for its role as a key supplier of aerospace and medical industry components. Th e company was fl ooded with rush orders from its existing medical supply customers, and had to prioritize very quickly to get the items out the door. At the same time, one of the major challenges was maintaining a safe work environment. “We followed every single guideline, every day,” Pedro said. Th anks to those careful measures, all of the employees on the company’s manufacturing fl oor remained healthy. Th at April, however, Pedro was among four Hygrade front offi ce personnel to contract the virus. Fortunately, all of them recovered, and thanks to his work in the COVID eff ort, Pedro was tapped to participate in an advisory group for the state’s Reopen Connecticut initiative.

Needless to say, since March 2020, it’s been a wild ride at Hygrade. Th e COVID pandemic’s impact on the aerospace industry led to a collapse in commercial aviation, which has “defi nitely aff ected our customer base, and caused us to have to rethink our opportunities,” Pedro said. Still, he considers himself fortunate, and is optimistic about the company’s forward direction and continued growth.

DR. NIKKI TAYLOR ROBERTS ’89

Understanding, honesty, courage, perseverance... all the qualities and skills that Marietta, Georgia, pediatrician Dr. Nikki Taylor Roberts ’89 has in abundance, were tested as never before last spring, as she and healthcare workers across the country found themselves on the front lines of the pandemic. Since that time, she has continually adapted her multi-layered practice and expanded her role in the community to meet the evolving needs of her patients and their families during this unprecedented health crisis. In addition to seeing patients for regular visits, Dr. Roberts’ day-to-day has included educating families on the importance of mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing.

Not all are willing to listen. On those occasions, persuasion, tact, and above all, patience, become paramount. “It is also a challenge to promote consistency, since we have been fi ghting this for several months,” she says. “Pandemic fatigue is real and people have a tendency to let their guard down.” Parents looking to her for advice, and for answers to diffi cult questions, has also been a challenge. In the fall and winter, children often present with symptoms that can mimic

COVID. Telling the diff erence between a cold, the fl u, and COVID-19 had been diffi cult until point-of-care testing became available this fall. “None of us wants to be the doctor who sends a child back to school too early or because of a faulty diagnosis, causing an outbreak in the schools.” In addition to physical care, Dr. Roberts has paid close attention to the emotional needs of her patients. “With the isolation caused by social distancing and virtual learning, we are seeing more depression and anxiety,” she says. “Kids are being challenged academically. And even down to the little ones, we are trying to identify safe, creative ways of providing social interaction, or allowing a baby to experience the smile of a stranger (which is a challenge with the masks), so as not to hamper the social development of young children.” Meanwhile, she adds, “parents have been in the diffi cult position of choosing between in-person education versus protecting their children from health risks by keeping them home. Th ey have looked to us to help weigh the risks and benefi ts for their child.” Th e pandemic has undoubtedly presented Dr. Roberts with many challenges, both personally and professionally. She herself contracted COVID last spring, but recovered fully in about three weeks. Another challenge that she anticipates will be convincing parents to vaccinate their children once one becomes available. She stressed that before promoting a vaccine, she needs to be sure that it is, in fact, safe. At that point, she will do all she can to educate parents on the benefi ts of vaccinating versus the risks of not doing so. “In the anti-vaccination era,” she says, “this will be a formidable challenge.”

DON KENDALL

Hopkins Trustee and past parent Don Kendall (P ’20, ’17) has never encountered a challenge he hasn’t tried to solve. Don serves on countless boards around the state and volunteers as an EMT in his hometown of Weston. As the co-founder and chairman of Social Venture Partners-Connecticut,

Don has been working since 2013 to bring a venture capital mindset to local nonprofi ts with the goal of providing them with sustainable partnerships for funding and strategic support.

When the COVID-19 crisis hit the U.S. and Connecticut, it comes as no surprise that Don was among the fi rst to look for a way to help provide funding for those in our state who need it most. In March, Don partnered with Ted Yang to create 4-CT, the Connecticut COVID-19 Charity

Connection. 4-CT is a nonprofi t that “unites donors with statewide programs that will help make an immediate impact.” 4-CT has raised more than $12M that has directly impacted our local communities by providing childcare for frontline and healthcare employees, funding for the Connecticut Food Bank, and access to educational tools for our state’s children.

Visit 4-CT’s website for a full picture of the incredible work they are doing, and to get involved: suggest a charity that might benefi t from their partnership, make a donation, or submit a solution to a current challenge. 4-CT.org