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Area Homeschool Students Attend Topper Science

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WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., December 13, 2023 – Twelve homeschool students in grades 8-12 from the Ohio Valley Christian Home Educators (OVCHE) cooperative participated in “Topper Science- Anatomy & Physiology for Homeschoolers” on the campus of West Liberty University on Monday, December 11.

The event, designed by Dr. Leslie Quinn, Associate Professor of Biomedical Sciences at West Liberty University, provided outreach in the form of science enrichment for area homeschool students.  Participants were able to explore the anatomy of the brain and heart using diagrams, models, and dissectible organs.

“It was rewarding to be able to offer this opportunity for students who do not otherwise have access to the tools nor specimens used for anatomical dissection.  The students were excited when they located structures from labeled images in their own specimens and were eager to share those discoveries with one another.  I was encouraged by their enthusiasm for this event and their excitement in being ‘a college student for a day,’ as one student put it”, says Dr. Quinn.

Funding for the event was provided by a NASA WV Space Grant Consortium Mini-Grant.  WLU graduate student, Tyler Hill and OVCHE parent, Shelly Tsikouris assisted Dr. Quinn with the event.

West Liberty University is West Virginia’s oldest public university, and it offers more than 70 undergraduate majors and 12 graduate programs, both online and on campus. Learn more at westliberty.edu.

Lydia Grubbs, Benjamin Hensley, Denny Belli, Laiken Houchins and Sierra Houchins examine one of the brain dissections.
(Standing) Lydia Grubbs, Benjamin Hensley, Denny Belli, (Seated) Laiken Houchins and Sierra Houchins examine one of the brain dissections.
Lab partners Silas Vickers and Luke Kuntz identify structures in the pig heart.
WLU graduate student Tyler Hill confirms structures of the heart identified by Anna Tsikouris and James Parsons.
Lab partners Lydia Grubbs and Benjamin Hensley show the elusive pulmonary trunk in their pig heart to Chloe Vargo and Mercy Howes. The pulmonary trunk was not clearly evident in all of the pig hearts dissected.

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