At 8:30 a.m. Sunday, March 29, Nevada Ink received the file that would offer Washoe County School District eighth-grade students with limited or no access to digital technologies the ability to continue their education. With the scheduled closure of Nevada K-12 schools until April 16 as part of the COVID-19 pandemic, WCSD students were given the option to pick up printed paper packets in lieu of online learning, and Nevada Ink stepped up to help answer part of the community need to print the packets.

“In estimating the project, there were 300,000 copies for the eighth-grade packet,” Patrick Jackson, Nevada Ink manager, said. “It will take approximately 35 hours of total run time with two presses running at the same time.”

To complete the project in time for in-person pick-up, as scheduled by the WCSD, Nevada Ink has had employees working in shifts since Sunday, with one or two people in the office at a time.

“It’s easy for one person to run both presses; it’s just a matter of loading paper,” Jackson said. “The presses staple each set, and the operator boxes them up as they come off the press.”

During the printing, one of Nevada Ink’s printers went down, but Ray Morgan Company had someone out to assist right away.

WCSD will be picking up the printing in intervals because the district wants to start distributing them per their posted schedules.

“The University and Nevada Ink are happy to have helped WCSD in this time of unparalleled need,” Ray Moran, Chief Procurement Officer for NSHE, said.