Dissection Club: Coming Soon!

On April 23rd, freshman Nina Goyette and Emma Xiong, sent out a survey asking for feedback on the possible creation of a Dissection Club. They received phenomenal responses, receiving up to 80 interested students in less than 24 hours.

The idea of creating a Dissection Club arose from dissecting a heart. Goyette describes the experience.

“Emma and I honestly got this idea during PBS on heart dissection day; we had both been looking forward to it all week and felt that we learned a lot in class while having a lot of fun,” she said. “I suggested-almost jokingly-that we start a dissection club, but we realized that it might actually catch on.”

Xiong explains that there actually used to be a Dissection club at GHS and how that encouraged them to restart the club.

“In PLTW Principles of Biomedical Science, the class dissected sheep hearts as part of our cardiology unit. We were both very engaged in the dissections and Mrs. Holschbach mentioned there was a dissection club in the school a couple years ago,” she explained.  “We were both excited and wanted to restart the club.”

Goyette describes the next step they took.

“We first asked Ms. Holschbach if the club was a realistic idea that we could really make happen. She said that she supported us, so we worked on a proposal letter to Mr. Lodes the next week,” Goyette explained. “He responded with approval, so we sent out the survey to get an idea of how many students would be interested.”

Xiong mentions how science teachers Jessica Hosbach and Amy Zientek have been supportive along the way.

“Mrs. Holsbach and Mrs. Zientek are our academic advisors for the Dissection club. They will help assist and organize for meetings etc. We are very thankful for them to be apart of this club and assist us,” she said.

The girls have received phenomenal results.

“Over 100 students have responded so far, and it hasn’t even been 24 hours. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive! There are a lot of people who aren’t sure, so we hope to reach out to them,” she explained. “We plan on closing the survey at the end of the week and emailing those who are interested to come to a meeting and help us plan the future of this club sometime soon. There have been nearly 80 people who responded that they would like to join, so Emma and I still have to figure out how big to make the group and how to manage it!”

Freshman Kelsea Mevis feels that this club would not only be fun, but would also be a chance to learn more outside of Biology class.

“I would be really excited to join the dissection club if it were created because I feel that it would be a valuable experience for my education and knowledge within biology. I think it would be beneficial to not only dissect animals, but to examine, and ask questions about the structure and chemical makeup [of the animal],” she said. “I think this is important because it gives us more experience and visibility of the actual structures than textbooks and online interactives.”

Junior Anna Turdo would also be interested in learning about the anatomy of the animals they dissect because of her interest in Biology.

“I was thinking about joining because I want to major in biology, and I think that this is a cool opportunity that the school is offering. I think it would be cool to also learn about the anatomy of the animals while dissecting,” she said.

Freshman Alex Tellez would also be interested in joining the club and would want to learn about the animal before he dissects it.

“I would be interested in joining the club because I feel like I’m going to learn a lot about different kinds of animals and how their organs work [in future Biology classes]. Also, it’s something different from just normal Biology,” Tellez said. “I would want to first learn about the exterior of the animals we would dissect, their behavior, lifestyle, what they eat, and unique things they do like fun facts – such as the capacity of a chipmunks cheek.”

Junior Ellen AbadSantos would consider joining because she would like to learn about the animal’s anatomy.

“I think the Dissection Club would be a great way to learn animal anatomy, which could easily be incorporated with the dissections,” she said.

Finally, Xiong describes some of the concerns they have for the future of the club, “Our only concern so far is the number of people who want to be a part of this group. We are worried if there will be too many people as it will be difficult to buy enough tools, organisms etc.,” she said. “We are not sure what we will do about it yet, but will wait for more responses and meet with our academic advisors.”

Goyette adds that there is a concern about the funding for the animals.

“We are still working to figure out long-term funding for our animals, but our academic advisors have found a way to get us started. At this rate, it looks like there are much more people interested than we can accept and accommodate, so hopefully we are able to find a solution,” she said.