In her imagination, Kayleigh Rhodes is about to cut into her first heart. Excitement and nervousness fills her veins as she makes the first incision. Sweat drips from her brow. She takes a moment to breathe and relax as she remembers what her senior year anatomy teacher Megan McMullen taught her: to calm down and gather her thoughts.

It’s a scenario that could happen one day, but for now, it’s all practice. The anatomy class focused on incisions last week, using potatoes to practice.

“Going into it I was a little hesitant because it seemed crazy to practice on a potato,” senior Andrea Garcia said. “But when we started going, I realized it actually was cool and made sense.”

It turns out that the skin on a potato actually mimics the skin on a human. They both have the same texture and thickness.

“I chose this project because I thought it would be a fun way to get the class started,” McMullen said. “It really got them engaged and learning quickly.”

The anatomy class will continue learning direction of incisions and eventually progress to the dissection of a quail.

“I am so excited for our dissection,” McMullen said. “It’s so cool to see the kids’ faces really into what they’re doing and focusing on the task at hand. It makes me a proud teacher.”

In anatomy class, the students will learn valuable knowledge they could transfer over into the medical field.

“The reason I took the class was to get real-world experience on how things would be and I think that I’m getting that with this class,” Rhodes said. “I can tell I’m really benefiting.”

Even if not all of the student don’t plan to go the medical route, they are still getting general information that could help them in many different situations.

“I’m excited to see what the year will bring,” Garcia said. “It’s going to be useful for kids that don’t plan to go to medical school.”