Fun, patterned, disposable and colorful too. These are the masks that fill the school in the new year.

Stoll’s Starry Night

English teacher Amanda Stoll bought a Starry Night mask during quarantine that she is sporting this school year.
“I thought it was really cool looking. I was ordering new masks and those were one of the designs you could pick from,” Stoll said.
The Starry Night mask, purchased online, was a part of a three-mask set. It came with two solid colored masks and six filters, for a total cost of $44. The mask has adjustable ear straps, a built in metal earpiece and is advertised to be made with a nonwoven fabric.

Finger: 100% human

Junior Lucas Finger’s mask is a part of the 100% Human line from Everlane. Everlane donates a portion of each sale to human rights organizations like Equality Now the American Civil Liberties Union.
“I picked these masks because I liked the style of them and how they’re just that little bit more comfortable; that makes them easier to wear for seven hours. Each purchase also has a portion of the profit go to a good cause,” said Finger.

Lane Loney’s Sunny Mask

   Lane Loney, a NHS sophomore, had a mask made by her friend’s mom. The mask is a dark yellow with a repeated pattern of suns with faces.
   “It fits a good aesthetic, very calm,”  Loney said.
   She described the mask as hot and a hassle, but she said she understood the purpose of it.

Villanueva’s variety

English teacher Melissa Villanueva frequently wears the mask her sister has made for her, along with ones from the Old Navy. All of which are a cotton-polypropylene-cotton mask. But the real question is, are they comfortable to wear?
“[They are] comfortable as a mask can be. Because we’re wearing them all day, I’ll sometimes bring an extra so I can change mine out in the middle of the day,” Villanueva said.
While Villanueva comes prepared for the school day, she said she believes these masks will be around for a while.

Mask Tips

It falls down: If a mask keeps falling off the nose, a nose clip available on Amazon will help with this. Crossing the end strings on a mask to an ‘x’ shape is another way to keep that mask in place. If that still doesn’t work, using a different mask type might work better.
The smells: Struggle with having a bad smelling mask after lunch? Avoid the whole issue with bringing another one and switching them out after lunch. Help the stench by purchasing a box of mints. If it’s a reusable mask, wash it daily.
The glasses problem: To avoid cloudy vision, slightly raise the mask up higher while slightly lowering the glasses to rest on top of the mask. Keep in mind, that method works best for a single-paneled string mask. Alternatively, this can be accomplished by having a slightly looser mask. An anti-fog spray can be used to clean the glasses.

Mask courtesy: How do you politely ask someone to wear their mask correctly? “My advice for students is, ‘Be Patient, and Be Kind’, the only control we have over the coronavirus is our own behaviors,” Junior Counselor Jenney Miller said.