My Robot Goes to School

It’s a typical school day at Lake Country School in Hartland, Wisconsin, for Grady Loper. In the morning, the fourth-grader discusses last night’s reading homework with his classmates. He then solves math problems on a work sheet. In the afternoon, he attends Spanish class down the hall. But there’s actually something remarkable about this day. Grady is doing all of this without leaving home.

Grady suffers from a severe medical condition that forces him to miss school for several days in a row. On days when he can’t make it to class, a robot takes his place. 

Grady controls the robot from home, using the arrow keys on his laptop computer. An iPad hooked up to the robot streams two-way video. That lets Grady see what’s going on in class, and it also lets his teachers and classmates see him. The robot enables Grady to keep up with his schoolwork and his friends when he can’t physically be in the classroom. 

“It kind of takes stress off my shoulders,” says Grady. “I don’t have to worry as much about getting sick and falling behind in school.” 

It’s a typical school day for fourth-grader Grady Loper. He attends Lake Country School in Hartland, Wisconsin. In the morning, he discusses last night’s reading homework with his classmates. He then solves math problems on a work sheet. In the afternoon, he attends Spanish class down the hall. But there’s something remarkable about this day. Grady is doing all of this without leaving home.

Grady suffers from a severe medical condition. It forces him to miss school for several days in a row. On days when he can’t make it to class, a robot takes his place. 

Grady controls the robot from home. He taps the arrow keys on his laptop computer. An iPad hooked up to the robot streams two-way video. That lets Grady see what’s going on in class. The robot also lets his teachers and classmates see him. This way, Grady doesn’t miss anything when he’s not physically in school. He can keep up with his schoolwork and his friends. 

“It kind of takes stress off my shoulders,” says Grady. “I don’t have to worry as much about getting sick and falling behind in school.” 

Grady was born with a rare disorder that has left him with a weakened immune system. That means his body can’t fight off diseases and infections the way most people’s can. He is more susceptible to illness, and his body takes much longer to recover. Being around someone who has even a slight cold can be bad news for Grady.

“In the classroom, if one kid is sick, if there’s a sniffle, a sneeze, a cough, Grady will get sick within a couple days,” says Grady’s mother, Tami.

She estimates that Grady missed about 45 days of school each year from kindergarten through third grade. So last year, she contacted Double Robotics, a company that has provided about 1,000 robots to schools around the country. It’s one of several companies that build robots to take the place of students in class. Double Robotics supplied Grady with a robot last September.

Grady was born with a rare disorder. It has left him with a weakened immune system. That means his body can’t fight off diseases and infections the way most people’s can. He is more susceptible to illness, and his body takes much longer to recover. Being around someone who has even a slight cold can be bad for Grady.

“In the classroom, if one kid is sick, if there’s a sniffle, a sneeze, a cough, Grady will get sick within a couple days,” says Grady’s mother, Tami.

She estimates that Grady missed about 45 days of school each year from kindergarten through third grade. So last year, she contacted Double Robotics. The company has provided about 1,000 robots to schools around the country. It’s one of several companies that build robots to take the place of students in class. Double Robotics supplied Grady with a robot last September.

For Grady, learning to control the robot took some getting used to. Sometimes, he would accidentally bump it into desks, or it would topple over.

“It was a little difficult at first, maneuvering it around the classroom,” says Grady. “Once I got the hang of it, it was fine.”

Grady wheels the robot through the halls to his different classes, steering it around other students. Even when it’s not in use, the robot “lives” in Grady’s classroom. On days when he stays home, Grady calls his teacher and she powers it up. The robot has two heights. It’s shorter when it “sits” at Grady’s desk. Grady can make the robot taller to show that he’s raising his hand.

Grady and his teachers send his homework and quizzes back and forth through a computer program called Google Docs.

For Grady, learning to control the robot took some getting used to. Sometimes, he would accidentally bump it into desks, or it would topple over.

“It was a little difficult at first, maneuvering it around the classroom,” says Grady. “Once I got the hang of it, it was fine.”

Grady wheels the robot through the halls to his different classes. He steers it around other students. When it’s not in use, the robot “lives” in Grady’s classroom. On days when he stays home, Grady calls his teacher and she powers it up. The robot has two heights. It’s shorter when it “sits” at Grady’s desk. Grady can make the robot taller to show that he’s raising his hand.

Grady and his teachers send his homework and quizzes back and forth through a computer program called Google Docs.

The robot has even helped Grady get healthier. This year, he has stayed home from school about 30 days. But only five of those days were because he was sick. He used the robot on the rest of the days to avoid being around classmates who were getting over illnesses.

For Grady, one of the best things about the robot is that it allows him to socialize with his friends, no matter where he is. And his classmates view the robot just as they would an actual kid.  

“They just think it’s me,” says Grady. “They treat it like it’s a normal person.”

The robot has even helped Grady get healthier. This year, he has stayed home from school about 30 days. But only five of those days were because he was sick. He used the robot on the rest of the days to avoid being around classmates who were getting over illnesses.

The robot allows Grady to socialize with his friends, no matter where he is. He says that’s one of the best things about it. And his classmates view the robot just as they would an actual kid. 

“They just think it’s me,” says Grady. “They treat it like it’s a normal person.”

1. Summarize how Grady Loper controls his robot.

2. How does the quote from Grady’s mother contribute to the development of ideas in the section “Overcoming Obstacles”?

3. Which details support the idea that using the robot has helped Grady get healthier?

4. What can you infer about how Grady feels about using the robot? Support your answer with details from the article.

5. Use information from the article and sidebar to compare the ways in which technology is helping kids with health issues go places they otherwise would not be able to go.

1. Summarize how Grady Loper controls his robot.

2. How does the quote from Grady’s mother contribute to the development of ideas in the section “Overcoming Obstacles”?

3. Which details support the idea that using the robot has helped Grady get healthier?

4. What can you infer about how Grady feels about using the robot? Support your answer with details from the article.

5. Use information from the article and sidebar to compare the ways in which technology is helping kids with health issues go places they otherwise would not be able to go.