Source: The Daily Star
By Mark Boshnack Staff Writer
Not everyone in Janine Rosener’s seventh grade math classroom is human, though she treats them all the same, she said. Since October, AJ Aukstikalnis, of Delhi, has attended most of his middle school classes at Delaware Academy “virtually” through his VGo robot.
This came about after Aukstikalnis started getting severe headaches and other symptoms last summer that led to an MRI at Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown in August, his mother, Anita Hall, said. He was diagnosed with a giant aneurysm.
When Hall told Delaware Academy Superintendent Jason Thomson that her son would need surgery and wouldn’t be able to attend classes. He told her “you worry about your son’s health and we’ll worry about his education,” she recalled. True to his word, she got a call from Principal Laurie Alberti asking if she had Internet for a possible Skype connection that would allow for interaction with the class. But in October school network manager, Luke Potrzeba, called about the robot.
“It’s hard to describe the feeling,” Hall said. “I can’t believe they did this for my son. It was a huge relief that his education won’t suffer.”
After a short lesson, Aukstikalnis was able to attend the second quarter “virtually” thanks to the machine. In the last several weeks he has been able to physically be in the classroom for at least part of the day.
“It meant a lot to me,” said AJ. It has been really helpful in maintaining his work. He was afraid to be out for too long, but “I found it was like going to school, but not really being there.”
