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Makenna Bauer

Sixth graders Layna Dibert, Jenna Kerr, Naveah Conte, learn how to take blood pressure from sophomore Hollie Keller.

With the help of high school Heath Tech students and the school nurses, sixth grade students at Tyrone Middle School have been learning about the human heart, heart health, and the circulatory system.

The unit is taught by sixth grade science teacher Mr. Scott Bouslough, who knows about heart health issues from his own first-hand experiences.

“I was diagnosed with hypertension about 20 years ago. My parents both have it, so it’s a good possibility that’s where I got it from. Because of that diagnosis, I will be on two different medications for the rest of my life,” said Bouslough. “We are seeing more and more teenagers now with hypertension. Some is due to heredity, other cases are caused by being overweight or not eating properly.”

The highlight of the unit for many of the students is dissecting a pig heart. The dissection allows students to see the components of the heart for themselves.

Former school nurse Julie Patton and current nurse Tracy Miller also came to observe and help teach the students about the heart and heart health.

”It was interesting to see such young kids dissecting the heart. It was incredible how much they knew. You could ask them anything and they could answer it,” said Miller.

The second part of the unit is about the risk of heart disease.  Students learned that heart disease is the leading cause of deaths in the United States. They also learn about high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke.

“[We learned that] smoking and obesity really affect heart disease and high blood pressure,” said sixth-grade student Hayden White.

Students from Mrs. Christie Taylor’s health tech class also helped with the unit, teaching the sixth grade students about blood pressure and allowing them to listen to the blood flow in their artery using a stethoscope.

According to Bouslough, having Mrs. Taylor’s students help with the unit began almost ten years ago.

“It gives [Mrs. Taylor’s] students a chance to practice taking blood pressure, and it gives my students a chance to learn their own blood pressure,” said Bouslough, “I also use it as a career opportunity. I have the high school students explain what Health Tech is all about and what medical careers they are going to get into after high school. It gives the sixth graders a chance to see what some of their peers are getting into.”

With the help of the high school students, the sixth graders listened to their heart rate, learn to take their pulse, and learned what causes heart disease and how to prevent it.

“We talked to kids about future jobs and basics on Mrs. Taylor’s class, and taught them how to take blood pressure,” said HOSA Member Kendell Markley. “There were a lot of kids who wanted to go into a medical field.”