WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Triad mom Megan Bryant is sticking to her goal of creating better air quality for both teacher and students by making Corsi-Rosenthal ventilation boxes for the community. 

What You Need To Know

A Triad group is creating D.I.Y. air filters to help keep air cleaner at WSFCS 

The homemade ventilation boxes got international notice on social media

The group could use volunteers to build and deliver more boxes

“Because I am a mom, and because I care so much about my kids and everybody’s health and safety throughout the pandemic, I’ve just been trying to research as much as I could,” Bryant said.

With some duct tape, filters you can buy anywhere and a few other pieces, Bryant learned how to create homemade ventilation boxes to donate to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

Named for the men who invented them, Corsi-Rosenthal ventilation boxes are little more than four high-quality furnace filters, a box fan, cardboard and duct tape.

“The air is drawn in through the filter, so it goes in and up, and these filters capture all kinds of particles, dust particles and also things that can contain the COVID-19 virus if it’s present in the room. So they catch that. They hold it in place, and then the air that comes out has been cleaned by going through the four furnace filters,” Bryant explained.

Bryant belongs to the Communities For Safe Schools Group who launched the project at the beginning of the year. 

Together they started a GoFundMe page to pay for the boxes, which cost about $65 apiece to make.

“We had about 40 volunteers show up here on very short notice because they were so moved by the idea of the project to have healthier air in classrooms for students and teachers,” said Bryant.

That was in January, and they have already become an international social media sensation.

Proud of their success, Bryant tweeted a picture, tagged the inventors and what happened next blew her away.

“They both saw the tweet and re-tweeted it,” recalls Bryant.

Before she knew it hundreds of people across the world were also sharing her tweet and talking about the importance of air quality in schools.

“People in Turkey and Cyprus, in Australia and Canada, New Zealand and France, in the Netherlands, we’re all having these discussions and thinking of ways that they could bring this initiative to their schools,” she explained.

The group has built more than 70 ventilation boxes and is still in the process of getting them all to teachers who requested them. 

Educators from Moore Magnet, Bolton, Brunson and many others have already received one.  

“We launched this originally on New Year’s Day, and within 36 hours we had 50 teachers requesting, even in the middle of a holiday, so that’s when we knew teachers were really eager to do anything else to add whatever they could to make sure that they were keeping their students safe in the classrooms healthy,” Bryant said.

Bryant also said the group has enough funding for at least 40 additional boxes.

She said there is still an overwhelming need from teachers in the community, and they could use volunteers to build and deliver more boxes.

To sign up for a box or donate, click here.