The Texas Education Agency has awarded Arlington ISD a Perkins Reserve Grant of $75,000 to purchase an Anatomage table – a technologically-advanced anatomy visualization system – for the district’s health science students, a news release stated.
The new Anatomage table will be used by the district’s nearly 2,900 students enrolled in Career and Technical Education health science courses, the largest career cluster in the AISD. According to the release, this technology will allow the students to graduate prepared to enter the health science workforce and postsecondary education.
AISD currently offers six health science pathways:
— Emergency medical technician
— Patient care technician
— Pharmacy technician
— Biomedical research
— Health informatics
— and Sports medicine.
“Having this innovative Anatomage table will be yet another way [AISD] students are experiencing relevant and cutting-edge learning opportunities on a daily basis,” AISD Superintendent Marcelo Cavazos said. “We appreciate the Perkins Reserve Grant recognizing [AISD’s] vision to be a leader in education by awarding this grant.”
The Perkins Reserve grant will cover about 93 percent of the cost of the Anatomage table, the release stated.
According to AISD, the hands-on experience with the Anatomage table will give students an advantage when it comes to opportunities for certification and post-graduation employment, in addition to laying the groundwork for postsecondary education.
AISD will be the only program in Arlington and one of few in Tarrant County to give secondary students access to this technology, which provides students with a deep understanding of anatomy, physiology and diagnostic imaging.
Using the Anatomage table, students will study the human body layer by layer, through muscles, bones and organs, and including the nervous and lymphatic systems. According to the release, the table will allow the students to interact with virtual cadavers, performing dissections and surgical cuts, comparing normal and diseased anatomy, and exploring the human body in a realistic way that cannot be done using a textbook.
Additionally, AISD aims to look for opportunities to share the technology through existing partnerships with higher education institutions and industry, in order to increase dual credit and internship opportunities for AISD students.