Brayton Students Take Hearty Trip to Overlook

Brayton School fourth graders got very up and close and personal with a 3-D, inflatable heart at Overlook Hospital Wednesday when they visited on a field trip to learn about cardiovascular health.

Students has the opportunity to walk through a giant model of a heart big enough for the Statue of Liberty. The heart not only shows the two ventricles but also shows several examples of heart problems, including stents, thrombosis and an aortic aneurysm.

Chief of Cardiology Dr. Steve Sheris said he worries about a generation of kids that spends more time in front of the TV playing video games than outdoors engaging in physical activity.

"I sometimes wonder that that generation is going to be like," he said.

But the upside to these technological advancements is it allows doctors and hospitals to create educational tools like the 3D, inflatable heart to help educate students. In fact, Sheris says kids have an expectation today to learn from something tangible.

"And if you can feel it, live it, you're more likely to retain it," he said.

Students had a special guest appearance by Superintendent Dr. Nathan Parker and got to work on their cardio while walking to the hospital for the trip.

Sheila Lawrence, one of the fourth graders on the trip, said one of the things she is taking away from the trip is a new knowledge that the heart is actually made up of two parts: the left and right ventricles.

"The heart is really more like two separate hearts," she said. "I always thought it was just one."

Lawrence also made her way to the different stations set up to learn about CPR and healthy eating.

"It was really cool," she said about the CPR demonstration. "I never know that you really did shock people."

Lawrence also said she learned two foods she likes, salmon and oatmeal, are good for the heart. But no matter what the doctors say, she says she is not eating spinach.