- B
Sean or “Seansome” as we like to call him, is a 2nd grader at Lake Eola Charter School in Orlando, Florida. He was recently diagnosed with leukemia and while his prognosis is excellent, he has a long road of chemotherapy ahead of him. While he was in the hospital we had the opportunity to visit him and we were able to “FACETIME” with his class. That was an amazing experience for both Sean and his class as his classmates are struggling to comprehend what Sean is going through. Frankly, in a class of 18, they just want to know why he is not with them. Sean is a bright boy with a GREAT sense of humor, who enjoys life and just wants to be in school. After all, it is what kids do and while they may moan and groan about school at times, they want to be there, be normal.
As we were brainstorming about how to create as near normal an environment as possible for Sean, one of our staff recalled a segment on TV about the VGo, built by a company based in Nashua, NH. It is being used in schools, hospitals and businesses across the country to provide personal access for individuals where access was previously not possible. You see, the VGo is a robot that replicates a person in a distant location. It can see, hear, talk and move around just as if you were there! With VGo, you are completely independent of the people in the distant location and it's 100% remote controlled. We immediately thought about how this robot would be a physical extension of Sean so that he could travel the same path every other seven year old child would take during the course of an academic school day while he is forced to remain at home. This could be Sean’s “new normal” at school.
Imagine what this would do for Sean! The VGo could move around to classes with his peers and participate at the highest level available to him. The VGo could open up the social and academic environment which would be inaccessible to him in a traditional Hospital Homebound School Program and give him back more independent control of his academic future as he fights his battle with leukemia.
While Lake Eola Charter School is a public school, there are simply no funds in the budget to purchase this wonderful invention for a child who would really benefit from it.
As a result we are appealing to you and others like you to help raise the money to purchase a VGo robot for Sean. The cost of the VGo is not high in comparison to the long term benefits that it will provide by allowing him to remain and participate in his normal class environment, even if it is remotely. The model that would be appropriate for Sean to use would be $5,695.25 and we are hoping to raise additional funds to pay for the annual licensing fee. Please help us keep Sean in his classroom.
As we were brainstorming about how to create as near normal an environment as possible for Sean, one of our staff recalled a segment on TV about the VGo, built by a company based in Nashua, NH. It is being used in schools, hospitals and businesses across the country to provide personal access for individuals where access was previously not possible. You see, the VGo is a robot that replicates a person in a distant location. It can see, hear, talk and move around just as if you were there! With VGo, you are completely independent of the people in the distant location and it's 100% remote controlled. We immediately thought about how this robot would be a physical extension of Sean so that he could travel the same path every other seven year old child would take during the course of an academic school day while he is forced to remain at home. This could be Sean’s “new normal” at school.
Imagine what this would do for Sean! The VGo could move around to classes with his peers and participate at the highest level available to him. The VGo could open up the social and academic environment which would be inaccessible to him in a traditional Hospital Homebound School Program and give him back more independent control of his academic future as he fights his battle with leukemia.
While Lake Eola Charter School is a public school, there are simply no funds in the budget to purchase this wonderful invention for a child who would really benefit from it.
As a result we are appealing to you and others like you to help raise the money to purchase a VGo robot for Sean. The cost of the VGo is not high in comparison to the long term benefits that it will provide by allowing him to remain and participate in his normal class environment, even if it is remotely. The model that would be appropriate for Sean to use would be $5,695.25 and we are hoping to raise additional funds to pay for the annual licensing fee. Please help us keep Sean in his classroom.