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UMES To Add Bulletproof Whiteboards As Campus Safety Measure

EASTERN SHORE, Md. (WJZ)—Teachers at one Eastern Shore university will soon be armed with protection thanks to a new device designed by a Maryland company.

Derek Valcourt shows us what it's all about.

Just about every teacher is familiar with dry erase boards, but this board is designed for double duty.

Marvels' Captain America wields his shield to thwart the bad guys. And that's the basic concept behind bulletproof whiteboards designed by Maryland company, Hardwire.

"It's a shield. If someone walks in with a gun and you know that this is bulletproof, it doesn't take a lot training to instinctively put this between me and you," said George Tunis, Hardwire LLC.

In a demo, the whiteboard absorbs every bullet fired its way. But the board is really small, so how can this really help a teacher if a gunman is coming at them?

"Well, let's talk about that because it's actually four times the size of standard issue body armor," Tunis said.

"This gives no matter where the threat is coming from, you can adjust to it and if I had to get on you I could get in your face much faster than I want to get in your face, to get the gun from your hand, or get that gun glancing up the side and absorb the rounds as I close the distance," Tunis explained.

And in the wake of school shooting tragedies like Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook and even a shooting inside Perry Hall High last year, Hardwire is banking that school officials will be willing to pay $300 a pop for the protection.

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore thinks it's such a good idea that they've already committed to buying 200 of them.

"We will be using those to help the faculty practice how to be proactive in the case of an emergency situation," said Juliette Bell, UMES president.

Everyone is hoping these bulletproof boards will never be needed for anything but ABCs and 123s.

Hardwire is having a lot of success with these boards.  There are already thousands of them in school districts across the country.

The whiteboard weighs about 4 pounds and is also available in green, pink, purple and blue.

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