A pretty brave young person spoke up & made a impression & a change
for her school.

Belzer student leads way to dissection alternative
By John Tuohy
Posted: January 14, 2009 A Lawrence Township 6th grader has persuaded the school district to offer students an alternative to dissecting real frogs in science class.

Belzer Middle School student Kara Hairston won a $2,000 prize for her efforts from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Kara will present half of the award to Assistant Superintendent Duane Hodgin and Principal Ron Davie at a ceremony at Belzer on Thursday.


"She did all the research on alternatives to dissection, presented it to the board of education and blew their socks off," Hodgin said.

Kara will also give the district advanced software that allows students to simulate dissections by computer. The program will be available to all elementary, middle and high school students who want to use it instead of dissecting actual frogs, Hodgin said

Kara discovered that the frogs used in her school's dissections were taken from the wild and she sought other ways for students to learn the same lessons without cutting open the amphibians, according to the PCRM.

"Studies show that non-animal methods teach concepts in biology and anatomy just as well or better than animal dissection," said Jonathan Balcombe, a PCRM biologist, said in a news release.

The presentation will be 9:45 a.m. at Belzer, 7555 E. 56th St.

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-5526.