A Superhero’s Sidekick

“We call Clint our Superman,” says his mom, Misty Evans. “He is a full-of-life boy that has lots of joy and grit in spite of the hurdles he has to jump.”

CLINT is like many third-graders. He loves collecting action figures and toys from his favorite Disney and Marvel movies, playing baseball, riding his bike, and playing on his Nintendo Switch. He also loves spending time with his dogs, Beau and Max, and he is always up for acting out scenes from his favorite superhero movies.

“We call Clint our Superman,” says his mom, Misty Evans. “He is a full-of-life boy who has lots of joy and grit in spite of the hurdles he has to jump.”

Just like every superhero, Clint has a sidekick - a three-foot-tall Reggie’s Robot that he nicknamed Vision, after one of his favorite Marvel superheroes. By using VGo technology that can be controlled remotely with a computer, this robot has just the right superpower to help Clint stay connected with his classmates in ways not previously possible.

“Before Clint’s robot, work was sent home. We worked through it, but there was no connection to the teacher or classmates. It made Clint feel left out. The teacher was great about email/ messaging and sending encouraging notes home for Clint, but he didn’t have a daily face-to-face connection to school,” Evans shared.

As a former teacher, Evans knew that educational robots were an option for older kids. After speaking with the Special Education Department at Clint’s school, Clint was approved to start using the robot, one of four currently in use in Garland ISD, in Spring of 2019. It is one of 23 robots currently in use around Region 10.

“He was kind of star struck, during that first time meeting his robot. He was able to move it with ease right away. We were all so impressed,” Evans explained “After we got his robot, Clint could connect with his teacher and classmates when he was unable to be there in person. He got to move around the room and join in on things he could not do from home before the robot, such as read-alouds, group activities, and science experiments.”

Region 10 provides robots to school districts at no cost, depending on availability. Districts that participate in the Region 10 Videoconference Service through Technology and Data services, or schools that have a student who is being treated by Children’s Health Hospital in Dallas are eligible. School districts can also rent a robot from Region 10 if neither of those conditions apply.

For Paula Corbett, Clint’s first-grade teacher, the initial nervousness of its incorporation in the classroom was quickly eroded by its benefits. She also credits Evans with going the extra mile to make sure Clint had everything he needed to be included in activities.

“I will admit that I was a little nervous at first about the robot in the classroom. But as I got used to it and realized I wasn’t going to harm it, I felt like it was really beneficial for Clint,” Corbett said. “We were able to communicate together and he saw exactly what we were doing in the classroom. He worked right along with us as we did activities. He went to Music, Library, and Art with us too. The students interacted with Clint and the robot as if he were sitting in the classroom. I feel like this really helped Clint not to feel so isolated. I feel like this experience was somewhat different from other distance learning as this seemed more personal.”

Evans believes the program helps make it easier to keep Clint safe, while still getting the full experience of being in school.

“I love this program so much! It has been a game changer for Clint. Being intermittently homebound due to chronic illness made Clint feel isolated and disconnected. Vision has been a bridge for Clint connecting him from the safety of our home to his teacher and friends at school,” Evans said. “If Clint is feeling too fatigued for in-person school or if an environmental illness is running high (during viral season in the past and now especially with the COVID-19 pandemic) we have the option of the robot. It makes our decision-making much easier and Clint stays up with his class.”

Clint isn’t the only student who has learned from the robot. Corbett believes that the other students were able to learn more about inclusivity from its incorporation in the classroom as well.

“I feel the other students thought that the robot was a novelty. They enjoyed having Clint with us in this new and different way,” she explained. “The students learned that an individual can

have challenges and be somewhat different, but that we are really all just the same - human beings. They treated Clint just as they would other members of our class. It was a true learning experience for all of us.”

The program’s success in Garland ISD can be attributed to the efforts of Wendy Brower, Section 504/Special Education Coordinator for Garland ISD, who was a force in bringing the program to the district. For her, the robots are the greatest tool for students who are homebound, and she was inspired to bring the robots to Garland after hearing about its success in other school districts.

“There was this student with brain cancer who needed homebound services but he was in all AP/DC courses, so having just one teacher providing instruction in all of his upper level courses was going to put him at serious risk of

not being able to keep up and having to repeat courses/ not graduate,” Brower said. “I went home that day with it truly heavy on my mind and heart, and as I was watching the news, there was a story of the robot that either Duncanville or DeSoto ISD had just deployed.”

“When I got to the office the next morning, I was on the phone with

Region 10 and our Technology Department to get a robot for that student! I showed my director, who immediately was onboard and found the money to purchase our first robot for GISD! That student moved to another district before he could even begin using the robot, but as a result of his need, we now own four in Garland and have used as many as 11 or 13 at once to serve our students! This is some of the greatest, most rewarding work I do.”

Districts interested in purchasing their own robot(s) can take advantage of the education discount that Region 10 has with VGo. For more information, contact Dr. Lori Aden (lori.aden@region10.org).