Houston High students become their own detectives

HOUSTON — Imagine walking into a classroom with a body outline on the floor, fake blood and vomit beside it, and a group of students vigorously writing down clues to the cause of death. Such a scene is a normal sight during Houston High School’s first-hour biomedical class.

This is the first year HHS has offered biomedical — powered by Project Lead The Way — and joins Mat-Su Career and Tech High as the only schools to offer the course in the Mat-Su Borough School District.

Biomedical is a yearlong, student-lead course aimed at juniors and seniors. Students investigate the death of fictional victim Anna Garcia who was found dead in her home on a sunny summer morning. They will learn about the human body systems, cardio vascular system, heart attacks, diabetes, sickle cell disease, hypercholesterolemia, infectious diseases, medical intervention, and grant proposals.

Houston High counselor Lisa Campbell said interest in biomedical became huge in a hurry.

“Once we got the word out that it was being offered at HHS it filled up pretty quickly. It’s a great opportunity for students and it’s exciting to be able to offer it as a course,” Campbell said.

HHS science teacher Colton Conner, who teaches the class, said he decided to teach biomedical because he wanted Houston students to be able to take advantage of the class.

“I want students to get ideas for jobs outside of school in the medical field,” Conner stated.

Conner had to participate in a two-week course at Washington State University to be certified to teach the biomedical class. According to Conner, the course covered all eight units of the curriculum.

“We did about 90 percent of the curriculum, and did exactly what the students would do in a year just to get familiar with the labs, protocols, and assignments,” he said.

As a college-styled course, students will have to take on a greater responsibility then they had in previous science classes.

“It’s one of the tougher classes, not necessarily course-work wise, but it takes effort,” Conner said. “It’s fun and very interactive though. I just hope students get an idea what education is like outside of high school and ideas for jobs in the medical field.”

Among the many opportunities the class presents is the ability to receive college credit. According to the PLTW website, certain colleges recognize this biomedical course for college credit. A multitude of colleges and universities that are partnered with PLTW, including Arkansas Tech University, Iowa State University, Oregon Institute of Technology and San Diego State University, convert the high school credit into a college level credit.

Senior Brett Cedros said he already feels the pressures of the high-level class.

“It’s challenging that we don’t have a teacher really, we have to teach ourselves,” Cedros said.

He is not alone in his struggle. Fellow senior Danielle Andrew also said she finds aspects of the course challenging.

“On some levels the class is difficult, and on other levels no. Overall the class may seem difficult, but many students can reap the rewards the class brings to light,” Andrew said. “It’s also a great choice for students going to college because of the difficultly level of the class; colleges take note of students who challenged themselves.”

Students enrolled in biomedical said they are pleased to see a medical-styled course offered in HHS.

“I plan on going into the medical field after high school, and I hope to learn a little bit more about the human body before I go to med school,” Cedros said.

Junior Quinn Cummings said she longed to take the class to help her with her future in health care.

“I thought that it would be interesting to understand how the body works. I was also interested in anatomy, but the biomedical course seemed much more interesting to me,” she said.

Students won’t find out Garcia’s cause of death until the end of the second semester. Students will have the ability to guess what happened, but Conner stated he will not reveal the cause until second semester.

The secret of Garcia’s death mystifies many of the students.

“I’m really excited to find out the cause of death for Anna Garcia,” said junior Shana Barber. “It’s going to be interesting exploring the different diseases and causes of death.”

Andrew said she looks forward to solving the mystery of Garcia’s death.

“Biomedical provides a real life element whereas most science classes don’t have that,” she said.

When it comes to future activities in the class, senior Ashley Werts said she is most interested in dissecting and examining organs to learn how a person possibly died.

The biomedical class currently has 24 students enrolled in it. Conner said he plans to teach biomedical for the 2013-14 year, or another course on the human body systems. To see the full list of colleges that accept biomedical as a college level class, visit pltw.org.

Holly Brett is a three-year journalism student and this is the second year she has written for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman’s School’s page.