For Southern Fulton Junior Senior High School, it was Organ Tissue Awareness Week, and for the last day, they had a special guest speaker.

 

Throughout the week, the school incorporated organ tissue donation awareness into their curriculum, through art to English and even Spanish classes.

 

“We’re trying to make it fun, and, at the same time, the kids are getting to learn a lot about organ donation,” Rodney Leese, English student.

 

With games like “pin the organ,” creating t-shirts and signing pledges to be an organ donor, students had a blast learning all the way up to the appearance of their special guest speaker Dr. Lisa Batatt, a Cornell Transplant Surgeon and the Governor’s Chairwoman for the Organ Donation Advisory Committee, who has given hundreds of speeches to a variety of groups all over.

 

”I rarely get the opportunity to talk to students, and these kids are amazing. I mean, they were riveted by the talk. They asked great questions. Really, they are the ideal audience,” Dr. Batatt said.

 

Dr. Batatt said there are 8,000 people waiting for a transplant in the state of Pennsylvania, with about 2,000 performed each year. 500 of those who are waiting end-up dying.

 

“Our goal is not to make people be organ donors. Our goal is to have people know the facts so that they can make informed decisions and decide whether or not organ donation is right for them,” Dr. Batatt said.

 

“Whenever they go to get their driver’s license, they are able to make an informed decision. They’ll understand, possibly, why they want to be an organ donor. This way, it’s not just a guess. They’ll understand why they would possibly want to be an organ donor,” Leese said.

 

She also said a donation is a gift. With one person choosing to be a donor, they are able to save eight lives, a message that hit home for some students.

 

“It was really fun getting everyone aware of that. Hopefully, everyone is aware of that. Hopefully, more people will sign up to be a donor when they get their license,” Emily Bradshaw, senior, said.

 

The school received a Organ Tissue Donation Awareness grant, allowing them to purchase new books and have even more engaged learning.

 

Southern Fulton said they will continue to educate their students on organ tissue awareness and look forward to apply for the grant again next year.