Yoicks!

Students at Elliott Elementary School in Artesia got a chance to perform heart surgery recently. With the assistance of school nurse Kathy Guadagnini, the 25 fifth-graders in teacher Maria Sanchez’s classroom learned something about anatomy by performing surgery on sheep hearts, which are similar to human hearts. After some of them got over initial squeamishness, the students used paper-cutting scissors to do the surgery. Eric Westhuis, 10, above, grimaces as he puts his finger into a ventricle. The students are participants in the Fit Kid Program, a statewide pilot project to promote health and fitness.