Wilson Frantz is in Iraq, thousands of miles from home. But when his 6-year-old needed him Tuesday, he was there.

Owen Frantz, a first-grader at Regency Park Elementary in the Plum Borough School District, had his student conference at noon that day. His mother, Kim, and his teacher, Heather Kerrigan, were present and accounted for in the classroom.

So was Army Master Sgt. Frantz, thanks to technology. He got to "sit in" with his wife and son and the teacher via a Skype video conference. They all got to see each other, too.

"I believe it was an amazing experience for the whole family," Mrs. Kerrigan said. "The father was thrilled."

Martha Freese, principal at Regency Park, said she "was happy we were able to do this for the dad. This was a parent who wanted to be involved in his child's education."

Butch Frantz, as the master sergeant is known informally, began his second tour of duty in Iraq about six weeks ago. He went into it with a measure of familial angst.

"This one was difficult, he said, because of Halloween," Mrs. Freese said. "He wasn't going to see Owen in his costume or be at his conference."

The idea for the video started with a note from Mrs. Frantz, asking whether her husband somehow could be included in the conference. Mrs. Freese and Mrs. Kerrigan endorsed the idea, and the principal contacted Ed Hela, director of educational technology services for the Plum schools.

"We used a laptop that had a built-in microphone," Mrs. Freese said. "Ed brought in a camera."

The school has had parents participate in conferences via speaker phone, Mrs. Freese said. But this would be the first video conference at Regency Park, so a test was in order.

Mrs. Freese e-mailed a niece in Heidelberg, Germany, and set up a mini-video conference with her and Mrs. Kerrigan for Monday.

It worked. So, Tuesday's conference was a go.

There, literally, was a communications gap at both video conferences -- a delay of several seconds between the speaker talking and the listener hearing what was said. But it was a minor irritation compared with the gratification experienced by the Frantzes and the educators.

Master Sgt. Franz was contacted in Iraq, which is eight hours ahead of here, at 11:55 a.m. EST, five minutes before the conference.

"We could see him!" Mrs. Freese said. "That was very personal."

After speaking with media members for 10 to 15 minutes, the master sergeant got to participate in the actual conference with his wife and son and Mrs. Kerrigan.

Owen doesn't lack for male role models -- he is the middle child of five, four of whom are boys. But, according to Mrs. Kerrigan, seeing his father on that laptop was thrilling for the youngster.

"I know he is proud, and will be continue to be proud, that his father was able to be there."

Two hours afterward, Mrs. Kerrigan was still impressed by a conference that was, indeed, different from the others.

"It's amazing that technology can bring a father from Iraq into a room with his son," she said.

"I was happy we could do this for the dad," Mrs. Freese said.

"Doing this," Mrs. Kerrigan said, "was a small token for us to pay compared with what Owen's father is doing for this country."

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.