Hollywood High School Honors Biology students and teachers are expressing disappointment after learning that the program will be discontinuing dissections.
“I was expecting to dissect frogs and fetal pigs like other Honors Biology students from different schools,” said Hollywood High School freshman Lauren Kim in an interview.
Dissections have been used for science education since at least the time of the Ancient Greeks, and high school dissections can be informative and entertaining. Dissections provide opportunities for hands-on- learning and allow students to compare different organisms with the human body and learn about the similarities and differences between the internal organs.
The main reason for not having any dissections is a lack of funding. School funds have been directed towards other departments as well as major renovation projects, including the resurfacing of the football field. Critics have charged that the renovations are coming at the expense of the science department.
However, science department chairperson Christine Yoon, who has taught at the school for nine years, is collaborating with the principal and other departments to bring dissections back to Biology classes.
“We are actively working on getting more funding for the next school year so that students can perform dissections once again,” says Ms. Yoon. “If funds are not redirected back to the science department, then there are alternatives.”
These alternatives may include getting donations from parents and holding fundraisers such as candy sales drives. Whatever the course of action, Ms. Yoon has said that she is confident that future Honors Biology students will be able to perform dissections to complement lectures.
Jenny Jeong, a freshman at Hollywood High School, stated, “For the sake of future Biology students, I really hope that the science department will be able to get more funds this year so students will be able to do dissections.”
