Paragould High School

On September 19th, a group of 20 Paragould High Gifted and Talented Students attended the St. Bernards Robotics Day. The students had the opportunity to experience what it was like to use a surgical robot.  Each student had 30 seconds to move rings in a simulation to see and feel what it would be like using the robot in a surgical setting.  There were several schools that attended that day including our OGMS 6th grade GT students. Each student that attended the St. Bernards Robotics Day had the chance to move the rings, and they kept a tally on the amount of rings moved onto the ridges successfully by each student. Then they were added together by school and divided by the number of students that attended from each school to get a percentage.  The school that had the highest percentage at the end of the day were the winners and were able to name the new St Bernards Surgical Robot. PHS GT students won with 69 total rings moved by the 20 students.  Dr. Hobby, head robotics medical surgeon at St. Bernards, and the staff that hosted St. Bernards Robotics day surprised the PHS GT students by coming to Paragould High School on October 15th with the exciting news that they were the winners! The new surgical robot's name will forever be Robo Ramsey in honor of Paragould's Mascot, the Ram, chosen by one of our very own GT students and voted on by the 20 that attended. The St Bernard's brought a plaque, trophy, balloons, and cookies for each of the students. Dr. Hobby presented the plaque and trophy and the students were able to ask questions and gain more insight about the surgical robot and how the technology has advanced over the years. St. Bernards is currently the leading hospital in the state of Arkansas with the most surgical robots available. This means that our surrounding community has the opportunity to have less invasive surgery with less hospital stay time and a much quicker recovery. What an amazing opportunity for our students to be a part of this experience!  Congratulations to the following students: Carly Alban, Braylea Andrews, Aubrey Bounds, Andie Brengard, Darren Brockett, Dalen Burroughs, Edwin Chen, Lexis Covington, Kathryn Cox, Jaxson Friend, Braxten Herron, Bennett Hobbs, Faria Khan, Sophie Lally, Kynan Lamb, Cara Prince, Penn Richardson, Brandon Santos Lopez, Tia Trammell, Elaine Zhang. Who knows, maybe someday these students will choose to become a surgeon or work in the medical field and get to use Robo Ramsey or a surgical robot like him. Thank you St. Bernards for allowing our students to be a part of this unforgettable experience.