Department of Physical Therapy Education (DPTE) faculty, staff and students visited Michelle Noronha’s seventh grade science class at Burlington Day School to talk with students about the importance of the human skeleton.
Dr. Janet Cope and Dr. Stewart Holt, accompanied by students: Michelle Cusack, Margret Gardner, Aislinn Hundley, Erin Leonard, Josh Locke, Katie Reynolds, Chris Ridenour, and David Sutton had the seventh graders assemble complete skeletons in small groups while discussing the various bones and joints in the human body. This program was funded in part by an Elon University Community Partnership Initiative (CPI) Grant. Elon University DPTE students and faculty are partnering with Stacy Thurm, a PT in the Alamance County School System and community science teachers, to increase community awareness around various health topics.
The middle school students did a great job assembling skeletons and identifying major joint systems and also enjoyed passing around some of Dr Cope’s collection of real human bones. Dr. Holt and the DPTE students discussed the roles of the skeleton, how bones are formed, and how to keep bones healthy through diet and exercise!
The CPI grant will allow for more of these visits to other local elementary and middle schools encouraging participation in the arts and sciences, and offer first year DPTE students exposure and experience communicating physical therapy topics to a younger population.