My prayers are with you Tucker Beam: Building a Skype Bridge from School to hospital room

This story is so moving and amazing and was forwarded to me by my new friend Amanda Stone from the Hoover City School District. Tucker Beam is an eight year old in Amanda's Alabama town.

This is the story in Amanda's words:

We declared May 9, 2008 Tucker Beam Day in Hoover, Alabama (South Shades Crest Elementary). We have been planning this event for some time….mom can not work during this time and we do not want her to worry about money. We have raised over 28,000 dollars. ***I don't even know you and I am just sharing my heart with you…sorry. When we found out that he could not be at the school….I immediately starting working on the technology. We skyped [him] in….and well, tears poured out across our gym. We had 1,000 kids in our gym when he came up on the big screen. He was able to watch the ceremonies and his second grade class sang “This Little Light of Mine”…there he was ….an 8 year old, ….with the biggest smile on his face. Technology IS a power tool. God was diffently there….Joshua 1:9

These are the stories that make me have chills. Technology can build bridges to places where we have never been able to go before. It brings people THERE who are a part and makes them feel loved. It enables us to connect.

Amanda, I applaud you and the progressive administration that has empowered you and enabled you to do this (how many schools can't because Skype is blocked?) and my personal prayers will be with little Tucker. To experience such pain and hurt at such a young age is truly one of life's tragedies.

I applaud you for sharing your story… technologies are just tools and can be used for good or evil, much like the human hand or anything ever invented. You are using technology for good. More power to you.

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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