A telepresence robot named Sherlock has been spotted around the Middle School Quad mingling with the students as they chat and work on group projects. This robot, a video conferencing screen mounted atop a moving base, is made by a company called Beam, and it’s enabling eighth grader Peter Hanson to continue his schooling while he recovers at home from a stem-cell transplant.

After learning that Peter would have to be away from the school environment for an extended time, Menlo parent Ray Conley—father of Colton ’16, Makayla ’18, Trent ’22, and Katie ’24—reached out to Peter’s parents, Menlo teachers Charles and Katharine Hanson, and connected them with Sherlock’s inventor and owner, Sanford Dickert. Menlo Technology Director Eric Spross arranged for Menlo to borrow Sherlock for Peter to use throughout his recovery. Software installed on Peter’s laptop empowers him to remotely drive the device from room to room, and with the teleconferencing screen, he’s able to interact with the teachers and his peers in real time.

“It’s been great working with Sanford to make sure the robot was properly set up and to ensure Peter had help in learning to use it at school,” Eric says. “This is Menlo technology at its best: keeping our kids connected to the community. We’re incredibly fortunate to have the technical resources and personal connections to make this happen.”

With the device up and running, Peter has been able to join his classmates for advocacy and attend all of his classes. At a recent assembly, he  “greeted” the guest speaker, Chief Sabore Ole Oyie from a Maasai tribe in Kenya. The Chief was obviously fascinated with the technology. Peter raised his hand to the screen to welcome Sabore, who responded similarly and then went on to explain to the assembled students that for his own schooling he had to walk four miles each way to meet a teacher who had set up an outdoor classroom by propping a blackboard up against a fallen tree. Where the chief comes from, this technology is unimaginable.

In Silicon Valley, where the latest technological marvels are commonplace, Menlo students have fully embraced having Peter back at school virtually. “At first, our Middle School students were really curious and interested in Sherlock,” Eric says. “But they are very adaptable and quickly accepted it and began treating it as if Peter were right there with them.”

Eighth grade science teacher David Hill says Peter just completed work on a group project about salmonella. The students collaborated to shoot and edit an informational video about the infectious disease, and Peter was able to brainstorm with his group as well as conduct and record interviews that were edited into the final product. David says, “The technology is amazing. It’s obviously great for Peter, but the other students in the class are also learning from this experience, seamlessly figuring out how to reintegrate their classmate and friend remotely.”

Peter’s dad, Charles, says the technology “has totally transformed what had been a steady but frustratingly slow recovery for Peter.” He was beginning to get bored and lonely at home as his doctors won’t let him go back to school anytime soon, but with the help of the Beam robot, he’s been able to keep learning and engage with friends again.