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When 11-year-old Josh Unverhau returned to St. Pius X School in Loudonville recently, principal Dennis Mullahy said he had to "gently herd" cheering sixth-grade classmates back into their room.

"The excitement level was high," laughed Mr. Mullahy. "The students had missed Josh so much since a broken leg sent him to the hospital in Decem-ber, and they wanted to give him the warmest welcome back possible. They were literally pouring out of the classroom to greet him following his long absence."

Josh's classmates were also eager to congratulate the student, who was using a wheelchair, on winning the National Geographic Bee for his school while laid up at Albany Medical Center before Christmas.

"Everyone here is so proud of Josh - not just because of the National Geographic win that made headlines in December, but because of the kind of person he is," said Mr. Mullahy.

Back when he started Kindergarten at St. Pius, Josh had only recently been diagnosed as having Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that weakens his muscles as he grows.

Besides school, Josh keeps busy playing board games or doing jigsaw puzzles with his parents, David and Arleen, and his brother Ben, a St. Pius X alum who now attends Colonie High School.

Broken dream
But the medication Josh takes for his muscular dystrophy weakens his bones, with the result that his right femur quickly broke when he fell on Dec. 15, just a few days before the National Geographic Bee at his school.

"The injury was excruciatingly painful. Josh was in agony as the medical professionals were trying to reset the bone - but all he could think of was that he wouldn't make it back to school in time to compete in the National Geographic Bee," said his father.

"Josh had been the school's runner-up the year before," Mr. Unverhau explained; "and he had been busy preparing for the 2009 bee by reading library books related to countries around the world, watching the Discovery Channel and the History Channel as well as exploring educational websites. I knew his heart would be broken if he couldn't compete."

So Mr. Unverhau promised he would ask if there might be a way for Josh to participate in the competition remotely from his hospital room.

Pain and gain
"I never cease to be amazed by the wondrous ways in which God works," reflected Mr. Unverhau as he recounted how Mr. Mullahy, St. Pius technology teacher Theresa Reid, Albany Medical Center IT director Kris Kusche and a technician worked together to provide a laptop with a webcam in Josh's room.

At Josh's request, no pain medications were administered on the morning of the competition because he wanted to be as sharp as possible. St. Pius X social studies teacher Matt McLoughlin asked the geography bee questions via remote access.

"Josh did not know he'd won until Mr. McLoughlin an-nounced it after his last correct answer," Mr. Unverhau recalled. "I could see that he was relieved and excited, and when he took off the headset, we could hear the tremendous hoopla from all of his classmates coming from the earpieces.

"Josh just pumped his fists in the air and said, 'Yes!' with a big grin. Later, his Spanish teacher, Mrs. Ramirez, came to visit and brought his prizes to him."

In addition to a medal, Josh received a computer game on saving the planet, a world atlas and some National Geographic periodicals - fitting, said his father, because "Josh loves reading National Geographic and watching the specials on TV."

Josh is optimistic that these added resources will help him prepare for his next step: competing at the State Championship level in Albany on April 9.


(01/28/10)



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