![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
Photo Essay: Scenes of dissection at WEGO
March 16, 2023
On March 9, science teacher Lisa Licari’s human anatomy class conducted a dissection of a cow’s eyeball. This is one of the many dissections students in this science class takes part in to further their knowledge of body systems.
Human Anatomy is an appropriate class for anyone who is interested in working in the medical field. This class will prepare students for college through labs and hands-on experience.
Last Thursday, students in Licari’s class were welcomed into the room with a cow-themed slide representing the class’ focus for dissection: the eyeball of a cow. This colorful greeting was the first thing students noticed as they entered the classroom.
Once students set-up their equipment, they began to cut at the eyeball, removing the fat. Students were careful not to puncture the eyeball itself during this phase, but just to remove the outer skin and fat.
Removing the skin and fat around the eyeball is an intricate task: as Licari explained, sometimes the skin will come off easily, and other times, students have to work harder to remove the excess.
Students relied on many tools for this particular dissection, and had the ability to explore which tools worked best for each of the tasks.
Licari held up five cow eyeballs that had yet to be dissected. The organs are stored in a container with liquid in order to keep the eyeballs’ fluid intact.
Photo by Sasha Baumgartner
Students had the choice of working in a group/with a partner, or to work independently. Seniors Taylor Estrada and Juanita Coronel, pictured, chose to work independently so they could complete every step of the eyeball dissection on their own.
Tightly sealed in the wrap were sheep eyeballs. Students had the option to either dissect a cow eyeball or a sheep eyeball. The sheep eyeball was a good choice for anyone looking for a smaller dissection because the cow eyeball was much larger and required more work.
A crowd of onlookers observed the students at work. Although it may look like blood was left over on these skeletons, it was actually clay used earlier in the semester to showcase the human body muscles.
This story was originally published on Wildcat Chronicle on March 15, 2023.
