Class Puts Science in Kids’ Grasp

With first-aid equipment and stethoscopes at hand, 55 potential physicians are conducting medical experiments while exploring the human body and simulating emergency scenarios during the Voyager Discovery Pre+Med Summer Program at Arroyo Elementary School.

The first- through sixth-grade students, donning surgical masks and hats, get to delve into various science projects during the four-week program and will soon be visiting Western Medical Center-Santa Ana to observe a medical staff in action. “It’s exposure at a young level so that later on they will be ready for it and excited about science,” said Christy Miller, the program site administrator dressed in scrubs. “They will already have a good foundation.”

Eight-year-old Erin Appleby said she likes the program because she can see her friends and do experiments.

“I learned it’s healthier to breathe through my nose because it filters out all of my germs,” she said.

Thursday, Erin and the rest of her class learned about the digestive system by combining a cracker and water inside a sealed plastic bag, poking a hole in the bag and squeezing the mixture through a straw into a bowl. The bag represented the stomach, the straw symbolized the small intestine, and the bowl depicted a liver.

“We do fun and messy things,” said 6-year-old Erin Cole.

Students have also made casts with a balloon as a fake limb, simulated body organs and discussed the medical field with a visiting doctor. Today, a nurse is visiting the school and will bring in a heart monitor so students can determine their heart rate.

Science teacher Sharee Pfaff said the enrichment program reinforces the science skills the students have learned throughout the school year.

“The fact that it’s so thematic is different for kids,” Pfaff said. “It doesn’t feel like summer school.”

The Voyager program is in its third year, costs $300 per student and presents a different theme every summer. The first year offered a program related to outer space, and last year’s focus was on dinosaurs. Miller said 10 students had to be put on a waiting list this year because the program has become so popular.

“When you can see all the visuals and how engaged the students are, the parents are impressed with it,” Miller said.

Julie Cronin’s class, made up of fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders, is expected to respond to sudden simulated emergencies such as a bee sting or a concussion from a fall. The students’ preparation period is timed and monitored.

“I like to pretend to treat everybody as if they were hurt and they were real patients,” Devon Williamson, 9, said.

Cronin said the activity brings the students as close to real life as it gets.

“It simulates what it would truly be like in an emergency room,” she said. “It’s like they are real medical students around here.”

Marissa Espino can be reached at (714) 966-5879.