Dear 8x8,

This past school year, we successfully video-conferenced with one of our students who was absent from school beginning in September due to illness. When she became a patient as the Medical College of Georgia, we began to provide her classroom instruction by way of ViaTV. The hospital provided one device for her to use in her hospital room, and Lakeside Middle School provided her one device to use in her home.

With the device at the school, the teacher was able to deliver the student her classroom instruction at times when the student was too ill to receive the teacher in person and at the same time that she was being treated with chemotherapy. Another great benefit of all of this is that the student was able to stay in contact visually and audibly with her classmates. The entire project was deemed a success by all parties involved! Unfortunately, the student passed away in April of 1998 due to complications relative to her illness.

In spite of this, her life was enriched, and she enriched all of our lives, by being able to keep in touch with her class-mates as they traveled through this year as sixth grade students at Lakeside Middle School. Without ViaTV, she would have died a much lonelier person. This child and her classmates all benefited greatly from an educational experience that would not have been possible without ViaTV.

We plan to continue the program next year with other Hospital/Homebound students. This year we were able to see the many advantages the ViaTV technology offers to those in need of educational services, yet are unable to attend school in the normal fashion. Thanks for making this very affordable, 'user friendly' technology available.

Based on our experience this past school year, ViaTV is meeting definite needs of some of our less fortunate students.

Sincerely,

William D. Morris
Principal
Lakeside Middle School
527 Blue Ridge Dr.
Evans, GA 30809
bmorris@ccboe.net