Greco, Harnois changing the game with Communicator Mask

Linda Greco and Linda Harnois knew that, if students go back to school in September, regular masks aren’t going to cut it.

Both stressed the importance of being able to read a teacher’s lips, especially for younger students like those Greco instructs at Thornton Elementary School in Johnston. Greco had mentioned to Harnois the idea of crafting a mask that allowed the mouth to remain visible, but nothing came of it.

Then one day they went to a drive-thru to pick up food, and once they got up to the window to pay, they couldn’t understand the cashier. After both parties were unable to hear each other and several seconds of back-and-forth, the employee ultimately had to hold up his fingers to communicate the price.

They knew at that point the Communicator Mask was going to be essential.

“So we turned around, looked at each other and said, ‘You know what, let’s do this,’” Harnois, a retired East Providence teacher, said during a joint phone interview with Greco on Wednesday afternoon. “So we designed some kind of a template and from there before we went to bed, we said, ‘Well, let’s put it on Facebook and see what happens before we left it.’ The next morning she called me up and said, ‘Lin, you're not going to believe this but, so many people want to order this mask.’”

Now, interest in the masks has gone global. The farthest they’ve sold one thus far is California, but Harnois said they’ve garnered interest from as far away as Finland and Germany. So far, the Communicator Mask is most popular with educators and the hearing impaired, but Harnois noted they can be useful just for greeting people in everyday situations.

“I just couldn’t imagine me teaching little ones with my mouth area covered because they need to lip-read, and I was so passionate about this and I mentioned to Linda that we need to do something where we have a clear window for our mouth area so my students could see,” Greco said. “Also, it would be wonderful if they also had one so I could see their facial expression and their lip-reading.”

Greco said the pair is overwhelmed by orders right now, as they manufacture hundreds of the masks every week – and they have had to hire a seamstress to help with the workload. Greco said that just yesterday alone up through 2 p.m. Wednesday, shortly before their interview with the Sun Rise, there had been 140 orders placed. Masks can be found at thecommunicatormask.org.

The process is simple: They cut an 8-by-12-inch piece of material, fold it in half and cut a hole in the center. The vinyl is placed and sent to the seamstress, who works her magic and sews it in. The masks are defogged as well.

“Everyone is just so appreciative,” Greco said. “My dining room table is full. We can’t even eat at the table anymore, that’s how full it is, and we’re just trying to produce them as fast as we can. And like Linda said, we just can’t do it alone, so we actually had to hired a seamstress. It’s actually shocking and surreal.”

Harnois was coy, but she said an investor has contacted the duo looking to take the product overseas. They both emphasized that isn’t a certainty, but it could be what the future holds for taking the Communicator Mask worldwide.

While they would earn a royalty in taking the masks to an investor, it isn’t about the money for Greco and Harnois. It’s the smiling faces they see before and after providing masks – like a recent delivery to people with hearing impairments who were so overjoyed that Greco and Harnois began to cry.

“We’re not doing it for any type of money, we’re doing it because we really believe in it,” Greco said. “We’re really passionate about this, and when we get the feedback from our clients, that just makes us more driven.”

It’s unknown whether students will be back in school full-time this September, but if they are, they’re guaranteed to see Greco with a smile on her face. After all, as Harnois said, being able to see the teacher’s face and students’ reactions are “the most important thing really.”

“Research shows that children read your facial expressions and learn best and get clues and all the information that you're trying to convey to them. Even infants and toddlers, that’s their growth development,” Harnois said. “They need to see your face and your lips, and that’s how they learn to verbalize.”