Go Deep with The Antatomage
Anatomy class used to require cutting cadavers. But the Antatomage, a new touch-screen table that looks like a giant iPad, is letting the young women of St. Joseph Academy’s Health Science Honors Program forget the frog as they learn about the human body.
This advanced tech tool lets students explore and manipulate 3-D images of human and animal bodies. Five years ago, St. Joe’s was the first high school in Northeast Ohio to acquire the equipment, which originated in medical schools.
“Our young women can touch and rotate the bodies or organs and look at them from different vantage points as they engage with anatomy or biology class,” says Kathryn Purcell, the school’s president. “We feel so strongly we want to set our girls up for success. We want to give them the opportunity to use the tools they will experience in a university or work setting.”
In addition to the interactive table, the honors program sends students into the field to spend time with health and science professionals.
“Then they can come back and really digest what they learned in the classroom,” she says.
3D Printing and Design Thinking
Tech’s not just about breaking things. When used correctly, new tools can fix the world’s problems.
That’s what students at St. Ignatius set out to do during the Digital Literacy and Design Course in the school’s maker space, which features 15 3D printers. There, project-based learning forces students to think critically about the world around them.
“As they move around in the world and notice things that might be broken or inconvenient, we have them figure out solutions,” says teacher Jon Jarc, who oversees the program.
One student, for example, had a grandparent with Parkinson’s Disease who was struggling to use utensils. So, he and a classmate designed and prototyped a different silverware setup.
“That allowed them to talk to others who are experiencing the issue, go to design and work through a potential solution, take that back to his grandparent and ask, ‘Would this work? Test it out,’” says Jarc. "Then they got feedback and could work through prototypes.”
The 3D printing program also teaches sustainability thanks to a 3D printing filament recycler, which grinds recyclable plastic containers into new 3D printing filament. St. Ignatius is the only school in the area with the technology.
“We are really trying to push the envelope as to what 3D printing can do and connect it to the real world, environmental activism and sustainability,” says Jarc.
Get the report card on more than 100 Cleveland Private Schools with our 2022 Private School Guide.
Get more great Northeast Ohio stories by signing up for our free weekly “In the CLE” newsletter — your guide to fun throughout The Land. Arriving in your inbox every Wednesday, this weekend to-do list fills you in on everything from concerts to museum exhibits — and more. Click here to subscribe.
