Golisano Children’s Hospital adds new teacher, classroom

FORT MYERS, Fla. Teacher Garrett Gablehouse is helping sick kids, one homework assignment at a time.

Gablehouse teaches kindergarten through 12th grade at Golisano Children’s Hospital and keeps patients from falling behind on their school work.

“I’ll be working with a kid one day, and they’ll be completely doing homework like normal, like they shouldn’t even be in the hospital — and then the next day they have a fever of 103 (degrees) and can’t open their eyes,” Gablehouse said.

Gablehouse will teach six to 20 students on a given day in the new classroom. He strives to provide motivation for students to focus on their studies even when they’re not feeling up to it.

And sometimes he’ll take unusual measures to drive home a science lesson.

“If I tell them I have a tarantula, they want to get out of bed and come see it,” Gablehouse said.

This classroom was made possible thanks to a $250,000 donation from Suncoast Credit Union.