On Thursday Feb. 23, a group of elementary school students from the gifted program in Caledonia came to MSMS to learn about the anatomies of squid and sharks and laboratory procedure.

MSMS biology teacher Dr. Bill Odom led group dissections for the kids with the assistance of MSMS student volunteers, faculty volunteers and his Animal Physiology students. The event “fell into his lap” when the faculty member who used to sponsor the event contacted him about holding it this school year.

Odom said, “I really like seeing the excitement in the youngsters. It’s fun to see excitement and [simultaneous] disgust on their faces.” The teachers met for discussion for future events. Odom said, “We had a room for improvement meeting with the teachers.” They discussed getting better ventilation for the dissection laboratories and extending the time used for pre-dissection lecture on Biology.

Gallery • 5 Photos

Courtesy of Kaye Truitt

MSMS junior Hunter Bell assists kids during the shark dissection.

The students dissected squid and sharks using laboratory procedure in a laboratory environment. The dissections were broken up into three hour periods for the fourth and fifth graders; a little over one hour was used for squid dissection, while closer to one and a half hours were used for shark dissection.

Jo Orrick, an MSMS senior, volunteered to assist with the dissections. She said, “I helped because morally, I think dissection is wrong, but I think it can be useful to learn and determine what moral beliefs you and other people have. I wanted to be able to ask them the question of if they think it’s okay and spark their interest in science [and] animal rights. I think the overall goal [of the event] was to spark an interest in biology through a really hands-on experience.”

Another senior at MSMS, Greta Koshenina is currently taking Animal Physiology with Odom, and she participated in the dissections. She said, “[The event] is very flexible. There should have been a bit more of a plan.”

According to  Odom, Greta determined that she should not have eaten lunch before the dissections.

The possibility of having the dissection again is open; however, the event is not considered annual.