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Staff Photo by Carol Dreiling

Live feed gives injured student the opportunity to attend class from home
Staff Photo by Carol Dreiling On her first day back in school, Katrina Kendall copies notes in her American Government class. A car accident and two resulting surgeries kept Kendall from attending class for several weeks.By CAROL DREILING, Sentinel Staff Writer
While other McPherson High School students were choosing what clothes to wear, which notebooks to bring to school and when to arrive on the first day of classes, Katrina Kendall, a 17-year-old senior, faced a more serious dilemma.
On Aug. 19, Kendall was involved in an accident while northbound on K-61. She was returning from a trip to Hutchinson at about 3:15 p.m. when the unthinkable happened.
At the north Inman intersection, a sport utility vehicle pulled out in front of her two-door Pontiac Sunfire. Although she tried to brake and swerve to avoid the collision, Kendall's car "T-boned" the larger vehicle.
Kendall credits the car's airbags with saving her life. Her left elbow was smashed, and she broke four toes on her left foot.
"There was glass everywhere," she said. "The nurses at the hospital literally took a vacuum cleaner to me to clean up all the glass."
Kendall was taken to Memorial Hospital in McPherson where the staff took X-rays and checked her for internal injuries. She was then transferred to Hutchinson Hospital where an orthopedic surgeon, Jonathan Loewen, MD, performed the operation.
"I have a metal plate with seven screws in my elbow," Kendall said. "Dr. Loewen also just set my toes and hoped they would heal. But when I went back for a checkup, he found out they were growing crooked, so I had to have a second surgery so he could put pins in my toes."
While her classmates headed for school on Aug. 25, Kendall still faced recuperation at home.
"At first, I was pretty cheery," she said. "I was thankful that I was alive. Also, my friends came over to visit me before the start of school. And I slept a lot."
According to Kendall, the first few days when her classmates attended school were really hard.
"I'm not one to just sit and watch television," she said. "I don't like sitting around; I have to be productive."
Her teachers sent homework to her, but she was still missing the early school activities.
Finding a way to get her connected to her classmates and the class work she was missing was made possible with the use of district technology already in place.
Karl Ivers, technology coordinator for service and repair, approached Kendall and some of her teachers about setting up a two-way video link. Lisa Waldhauer, U.S. government teacher, had a Macintosh computer with the Apple software called iChat needed to create the connection. Kendall was given a Macintosh laptop with a firewire video camera connected.
The live feed allowed Waldhauer to hear and see Kendall sitting with her leg propped up on pillows; at the same time, Kendall could see and hear her teacher.
When the class began, Waldhauer panned the camera around the classroom, introducing Kendall to her classmates. On the first live feed, Kendall took a practice test along with students in the classroom.
Use of this technology allows a teacher to show notes written on the board, to engage the home-bound student in discussion and to answer any questions that student has in a timely manner.
"I could hear everything pretty well," Kendall said. "But one time, someone dropped something off at our front door and our dogs started barking."
The live transmission from the MHS classroom did not change Waldhauer's teaching techniques at all.
"I had concerns that Katrina would be able to hear me," Waldhauer said. "But that turned out OK. The whole program was easy to operate."
While the broadcast disrupted students in the classroom at first, that changed after the first live transmission. Once students got involved in setting up the connection with Kendall, everything returned to normal.
"I believe this kind of technology really helps kids in a home-bound situation," Waldhauer said. "It makes them feel a part of the class and the school. As a senior, Katrina needed to feel a part of something in her class."
Kendall said the live transmission was better than just doing work on paper. At the end of the class period, students would come to the camera and talk to her.
She said the accident and her gradual recovery have given her some insights.
"I realize that in life I need to slow down," she said. "The accident has taught me patience."
Kendall returned to classes on Sept. 7 with a reduced schedule of five classes. At that time, she was restricted to a wheelchair, but she hoped a checkup this week would put her in a walking cast.
"It's been interesting to see people's reactions," she said. "My friends don't treat me any differently, but most people stare and ask questions."