2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly

PAGING LODI
STUDENTS
Lodi High School
has opened a
biomedical lab,
part of which
is designed to
look like a real
hospital.
HANDS-ON MEDICAL
LEARNING AT LODI HIGH
Is there a doctor in the school? Students
at Lodi High School who are interested
in pursuing a medical career
gained a unique opportunity this year when
Bergen County school unveiled its biomedical
and exercise science lab.
Led by science teacher and former EMT
Virginia Fasulo, the lab features high-tech
equipment to help students become familiar
with treating patients. Part of the lab is made
to look like a hospital, with hospital beds separated
by curtains and two mannequins in
hospital gowns. Named Aries and Juno, the
mannequins have moving eyes that can be
changed to different colors to represent various
illnesses and moving torsos to simulate
breathing. Monitors behind the “patients”
display their vitals.
Students use a tablet to control the mannequins
and a virtual-reality headset to look
at organs and more, giving them a closer look
at how the human body works.
The lab, which cost about $1 million to
build, also has machines for students interested
in exercise science and physical
therapy.
The lab is used in classes including Honors
anatomy and physiology, AP biology and
dynamics in healthcare, and by the premed
club, which is open to all students.
The hands-on learning is key for students.
“It feels like a conversation more
than a class,” says Anthony Rodriguez, while
Shaniya Richberg adds, “It gives us...a greater,
broader perspective, as opposed to just reading
stuff in textbooks.”
The school also opened an engineering
and construction lab last year, which features
3-D printers, a vinyl cutter, laser-cutting
technology and woodshop equipment.
The lab also has a T-shirt and hat press. The
robotics team, the Roborams, used it to make
a logo for their team uniform, and principal
Frank D’Amico says students plan to create
lettering for logos and mottos to put up on
the school’s walls. —Thomas Neira
ARTS ACROSS DISCIPLINES IN
SCOTCH PLAINS-FANWOOD
Most math classes don’t require
drums, but the Scotch Plains-Fanwood
public schools march to a
different beat than most.
The K-12 Union County district is a big believer
in its Arts Integration program, which
blends core-curriculum subjects with creative
lessons. For example, a math class focused
on fractions incorporates djembes
and tubanos, two types of African drums.
Students learn about the Holocaust through
dance and about the anatomy of arthropods
through drawing.
The program allows students to learn various
skills and subjects while also building a
deeper understanding of themselves and their
own interests. Artsy, interactive lessons can
also make standard subjects more fun. “You
might have a student who isn’t into math or
understanding his fractions,” says Barbara Prestridge,
the district’s Arts Integration specialist
and coach. “But this kid, who happens to be a
drummer in the band, is drumming all the time
in fractions. Musical notation is just another
form of fractions. All of a sudden, that guy is
newly engaged in his math class.”
Prestridge’s position was created in 2019
after the longtime visual arts teacher found
herself weaving other subjects into her classes.
She realized bringing the arts into other
subjects could galvanize teachers and students
alike, and she soon began training and
collaborating with other faculty members.
With a background in art, Prestridge needs
other teachers to make this program work.
Fortunately, her peers have bought in, with
over 300 teachers and administrators participating
in professional-development arts
workshops pertaining to painting, drawing,
African drumming, opera, Japanese bunraku
puppetry, writing and more.
Prestridge says the Arts Integration program
has enthused teachers, allowing them
to awaken their inner artists. More importantly,
she says, “kids are engaging in a way we’ve
never seen before.” —Gary Phillips
RAISE A GLASS FOR NEW
RUTGERS WINE PROGRAM
When Dr. Beverly Tepper isn’t
teaching Rutgers University students
how to evaluate taste and
smell, the food science professor can be
found tending some 8 acres of grapevines
in neatly planted rows on her 78-acre farm
in Allentown.
Lately, she has harnessed her teaching and
farming skills to create a certificate program
to produce a skilled workforce for the state’s
growing wine industry. “It’s been clear for
PHOTOGRAPH: COURTESY OF LODI HIGH SCHOOL
64 SEPTEMBER 2022 NJMONTHLY.COM