On Friday, March 1, 2024, twenty students from Hillcrest High School’s Anatomy and Physiology class stepped onto the campus of Northern Illinois University for their first college class in anatomy orchestrated by NIU Professors and graduate students. The one day course designed for high school students was intense, fast-paced and typical of a college level science laboratory class. Students had been preparing for the college short course since November 2023, when they received their long awaited invite to the highly sought after high school program.
The short course is only offered once a year in the Spring. Over 250 junior and senior high school students who are enrolled in anatomy and physiology classes will attend the anatomy laboratory at Northern Illinois University for a one-day course in human gross anatomy. The Northern Illinois University Program is an opportunity of a lifetime. Groups of students from area high schools (20-25 students/group) are normally selected and will spend up to six hours studying gross anatomy in NIU cadaver laboratory. After much anticipation, Hillcrest High School of Bremen District 228 was selected as 1 of 15 schools out of hundreds applying, to have their own one-day course in human anatomy, on a college campus instrumented by NIU’s own professors and graduate students on March 1, 2024. In addition, Hillcrest High School is the only other public high school besides Andrew, within the Chicagoland and south suburban area to ever be selected for the NIU short program since its start in 2000. Hundreds of schools reached out to be a part of this incredible, exceptional, lifetime experience and only 15 schools were selected.
Upon arrival, the students receive a brief orientation, and then break into study groups and spend 30-45 minutes at one of four stations. The groups then rotate through the stations throughout the morning. Stations include prosected cadaver study, organ study, bone study, and model study. Cadavers are staffed by NIU faculty members or Human Anatomical Sciences graduate students, who demonstrate the relevant structures of a particular body region. The NIU teaching faculty is responsible for the content of the course, and each student is provided with a list of structures to be identified on the cadavers, models, and bones. As students rotate from one station to the next, they are responsible for acquiring the information outlined in the list of structures.
Dr. Karen Samonds, professor and director of the program, stated, “my team and I are so impressed with your student’s interest, attentiveness, preparedness, and most of all knowledge of anatomy. We have never had a group of high school students come to us with the knowledge and desire to learn like today.” The team of professors and graduate students were so impressed with Hillcrest students that Ms. Tate was asked to return next year for the program without applying.
After lunch on campus, students took a college level practical exam in the exact same setting as those college students taking an exam next door. Students performed exceptionally well on the exam and in following instructions from the professors.
Hillcrest instructor Cordina Tate-Jackson had this to say about her class:
“I am so proud of my students, they are indeed one of a kind. My students have earned a level of respect and admiration from me that I never knew could exist at a high school level. Students have worked very hard since being presented with this challenge, some doubted their ability initially, but I continued to reinforce their competence and potential. My students rose to the occasion, challenged themselves and I, and never conceded. Students worked diligently and assiduously each day leading up to the NIU experience. My students will definitely make a positive difference in the world, they are my heroes, phenomenal job Hawks!”