Eyes of Wonder Catching up with Aurora Wolf isn’t always an easy task. Whether she’s at a Phish concert, attending school, or hanging out with her pets, she’s a busy individual. She’s also looking forward to turning fifteen. She has two super friendly dogs, Molly and Trixie, and a flock of chickens all named after characters in the beloved Harry Potter series.
When she’s not at Inspire, Aurora enjoys reading and watching movies. Currently, her favorite book is The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir. Aurora wants to be a doctor when she grows up, and this book describes the experiences of a group of emergency medicine physicians. She is enthralled reading all the interesting stories they have to share. 60
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When asked about Inspire, Aurora says “It’s a very accepting [place], which means anyone can come to this fantastic school. If you like science and/or any type of art, you should probably come to Inspire!” We celebrate Aurora and look forward to tracking her obviously bright future.
WRITTEN BY SHELLY BRANDON
Aurora is a freshman at Inspire School of Arts and Sciences, drawn to the school because of her interest in the digital arts, along with the fact her older sister attends and has always shared great things about her experiences there. Her favorite class this year would have to be her physical education class, Dance 1. She says she loves the fact it gets her moving and active, just like one of her best high school experiences this year, their sole pep rally. With all the cheers, music, and dancing she says, “It was fantastically fun to be there!!!” and she’s looking forward to experiencing more of these memorable high school events.
Inspire’s principal, Becky Brown, shares that Aurora is “one of Inspire’s resident ‘cool kids’ and an absolutely delightful young woman, who happens to be paraplegic. She communicates through non-verbal signals and using a special keyboard she manipulates with her eyes.” Aurora wants people to know while she is in a wheelchair, she understands everything you say and uses a communication device to respond. Actually, she uses three different keyboards, each one specifically designed for a particular use. The keyboards are on a screen, and she ‘types’ by using her eyes to navigate around each keyboard. A light shines into one of her eyes and a camera picks up the reflection from her retina and cornea. As her gaze moves, the position of the reflections change, and the computer recognizes this and completes the intended action. She uses one board for talking with people and one for internet access. Aurora says,“Technology is pretty amazing nowadays!”
