That’s because the Nokomis Woodworking Club made free-standing dividers for some of the classrooms.

The dividers serve as windows — protecting the children as they work at their desks, while still being able to see faces. They are used by preschool, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classrooms.

Dean Clasen, a member of the Nokomis Woodworking Club, developed the design. Dan Holste, of Humboldt, helped build them. The two are retired educators for the Humboldt Community School District.

“Essentially, we had a picture framing jig that I used for making picture frames,” Clasen said. “What we essentially did was make the windows as if they were picture frames. I tried to keep it as simple as possible. We used plastic so they were a little easier to clean. The PVC has a texture to it, so it’s better to clean. It’s not quite as easy to clean as I thought it would be, but the wood would have absorbed.”

-Submitted photo Each divider has a hinge installed on it, making it easy to fold and store. The dividers were made by the Nokomis Woodworking Club and delivered to St. Mary Catholic School in Humboldt.

The dividers fold up, making for easier storage.

“When they are folded, they can put them aside and stack them up and not take up very much space,” Clasen said.

Clasen became aware of the need when Cindy Edge, principal at St. Mary, requested some sort of a sneeze guard for the school.

“We did eight the first time,” Clasen said. “And then they wanted 14 more.”

He added, “Dan Holste and I got after that and cranked those out.”

St. Mary is paying for the cost of the materials. Clasen and Holste plan to donate the labor. Jaime Zweibohmer, of Humboldt, also made a contribution to the project.

Any additional funds will go to creating a Nokomis scholarship, Clasen said. He said the scholarship would be given to one Humboldt graduate who plans to attend a tech school.

Edge said the students and teachers are enjoying the dividers.

“The children enjoy looking at their neighbor through their window,” Edge said. “This also allows teachers to see their smiles.”

Edge is appreciative of the efforts made by Clasen and Holste.

“It was very kind of Dean and Dan to build those for us and we did it in the lower grades where children could work in small group settings without having to have the mask on the whole time,” Edge said. “You can see the children’s facial expressions, which is important to all of us.”

Clasen dropped off the most recent set of dividers on Monday.