Fremd, Palatine students participate in Rush University Field Trip

One educational area District 211 prides itself on is the ability to provide students with hands-on learning and the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom.

Approximately 130 students in the Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology classes at Palatine and Fremd high schools received an opportunity that many don't experience until college. Those students took an annual trip to a collegiate-level cadaver lab at Rush University.

"The kids were really excited because it is something they have never seen before," said Debra Townsend, Heath Education teacher at Fremd High School. "They were really excited and they dove right in."

The trip, which annually takes place toward the end of the school year, provides students with information on what to expect in similar collegiate programs if they decide to enter a science major after high school. Students were in the lab for two and a half hours, examining the human body and asking Rush researchers and grad students about human anatomy.

The manager in the lab at Rush showed students several different cadavers. Each one had a tag that identified the cause of death, age, sex, and unique features about their bodies, such as pacemakers, knee surgeries, or heart problems.

"Our students got to hold a uterus, and they were holding hearts, lungs, and the intestinal tract. One of the cadavers had two knee surgeries, so they were lifting up the knees and moving the joints," she said. "It was unbelievable what the kids got to do and see."

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