Local Teacher, AGH Nurse Attend Obama's Online Town Hall Meeting

A Pittsburgh teacher and a nurse at Allegheny General Hospital were in attendance at the White House Thursday for President Barack Obama's Internet town hall meeting.

Almost 93,000 people submitted more than 104,000 questions for the online talkback. Those questions were then voted on by the public to see which would be asked.

Mary Ann Cupples-Wisniowski, a teacher at Westwood Elementary School, attended the meeting. She is a third-grade teacher who took interest in questions regarding the president's take of the future of education in this country.

Pittsburgh Teacher Mary Ann Cupples: Raw Interview On President's Town Hall Meeting

While she did not get the opportunity to have her particular question addressed by the president, she supported what he had to say about education.

"He knows we haven't had enough money given to education for a long time, and he wants to support us," said Cupples-Wisniowski. "I really think that he gets it."

Also invited to attend the meeting was Allegheny General Hospital nurse Cathy Stoddart. The Ohio resident was one of 10 nurses picked to discuss healthcare reform.

AGH Nurse Cathy Stoddart, One-On-One About President's Town Hall Meeting

Stoddart almost didn't make the meeting because her car broke down en route, outside of Fredericksburg, Md. However, she made it just in time to hear him address the topic of healthcare.

She said the president's message hit home. "What the president said today about Medicare is very important," Stoddart said. "My hospital needs to have Medicare."

Obama said on the White House Web site that the meeting was another way he is trying to break out of the bubble. He said the online meeting format allows him to get a sense of Americans' concerns and provide straight answers.

Obama is not the first president to take questions online, but aides said he might become the first to make it a regular practice.