How a JK Heart Dissection Inspired the Class of 2026

It’s a tradition that numerous Hutchison alumnae still remember: dissecting a sheep heart in junior kindergarten. Reflecting on this experience brings up a lot of memories for our girls, from the distinct smell of the formaldehyde to the excitement of poking at it with forceps.

Eight seniors who were in junior kindergarten at Hutchison 13 years ago plan to pursue careers in healthcare. They’ve come a long way since their time in JK. Sarah Alexander ’26 is considering a career as a nurse practitioner. Haney Harris ’26 isn’t sure what kind of doctor she wants to be, but she’s interested in fertility and urology. Mattie Ra ’26 plans to study biomedical engineering and might continue to medical school after that. Several girls—Sims Burke ’26, Kate Weber ’26, Janie Weeks ’26, and Elle Wilkinson ’26—aim to become nurses in various fields. Hannah Roark ’26 hopes to become a pharmacist. 

“It’s crazy that we did something like that, and now I want to pursue that in college,” Elle Wilkinson said. “The teachers at Hutchison helped me realize that science is something I’m good at and am interested in.”

Beyond early childhood, their love of science was shaped by experiences in lower, middle, and upper school. “In lower school, I always loved going to Ms. Wesson’s room. We grew plants and did a lot of fun experiments that I enjoyed learning about,” Sims Burke said. 

Janie Weeks and Mattie Ra recalled lessons and projects from earth science with Donna Budynas in sixth grade: an ecosystem simulation, a rock study, and mummified hot dogs. “Hutchison teachers encourage you to get more involved in subjects and lab experiments,” Weeks said. “It pushes you to ask more questions about the why and how. It lets you reflect and see how things work in the real world.”

Ra said Budynas helped her embrace her curiosity and be more confident in herself. “We were studying rocks, and she saw how interested I was,” she said. “I was the kid who was too nervous to ask questions. She noticed that and brought those questions out of me, even though I was super shy. She even gave me one of her textbooks and said, ‘Hey, I noticed that you’re interested in this. Here’s a book, and we can discuss it.’ I did have those discussions with her, and she pushed me in a comfortable way.”

For Hannah Roark, it was chemistry during her sophomore year that sparked her interest in pharmacology. “When we did titrations with colors and chemical reactions, learning about how molecules interact with each other pushed me toward chemistry, even though I love biology and anatomy. Pharmacology is very personalized, and there are many innovative aspects. There is always an opportunity to learn or do something new,” she said. 

Some of these students took advantage of the opportunity to double up in science courses in upper school, and several did this for multiple years in a row. Haney Harris took AP Environmental Science and chemistry during her sophomore year and then AP Biology and anatomy during her junior year. Sarah Alexander took AP Environmental Science and zoology during her junior year, and she is taking anatomy and AP Biology this year. 

“The older you get, the more choices you have to build your schedule around things that interest you,” Janie Weeks said. “Being able to have all these opportunities enables us to figure out what we’re truly passionate about.”

Our girls had many chances outside of the classroom to learn more about careers in healthcare. For their Career Exploration Day in ninth grade, our girls explored different career paths and fields based on their interests. There was a medical group that visited with professionals, and the engineering group had a connection to healthcare as well. They went to Medtronic, where they not only saw artificial spinal devices but also how surgeons perform procedures using biotechnology. This moment ended up coming full circle for Ra. “I participated in a neurosurgery program the summer before my senior year, and I got to test out the same tools that I saw at Medtronic freshman year,” she said. 

In addition, Hutchison has hosted guest speakers from the medical field, and our college counseling team connected girls with summer programs through Vanderbilt University, Wake Forest University, Baptist Memorial Hospital, and Regional One Health. “I got to sit in the ORs for a variety of intense surgeries. I was nervous going into it, but it was cool,” Harris said. “I hope I can do something like that again, and it helped reassure me that this is what I want to do.”

Hutchison girls also feel prepared to pursue these dreams because of experiences that may seem unrelated to healthcare at first glance—like civil discourse seminars—but ultimately shape essential skills. “Civil discourse applies to nursing because it’s important to be able to communicate with people about their diagnosis. Those seminars taught me about body language, active listening, and how to be respectful when other people are talking,” Burke said.

Our communications team found a video from 2013 with images from the heart dissection and recordings of our girls sharing something they learned at the time. We shared this with the students, and they came to a fun realization: the same teacher who did the heart dissection with them is one of their upper school science teachers, Dr. Matt Braby. 

“It's interesting to see the girls who do remember it. All of them will talk about it in various levels of detail… that they remember someone coming in and working on the hearts, and what they learned there. I enjoy seeing them remember something from when they were four,” Braby said.

Dr. Braby has taught the Class of 2026 in a variety of courses: chemistry, anatomy, physics, and computer science. He looks forward to seeing what they accomplish. “The interests of the seniors are really varied, but they're super passionate, energetic, competitive, and supportive students. They want everyone to succeed, and they're willing to do things necessary to get there, and it’s been cool to see them grow,” he said.

Even if a student doesn’t want to pursue a career in science, Braby said a primary goal of Hutchison’s teachers is to instill curiosity and resilience: “Curiosity is the core of science. You’ve got to be able to ask questions and seek answers. Even when you come to a spot where you don’t know what to do, you can’t stop or give up. You’ve got to come up with a different route or way of thinking about it. You’ve got to seek out different avenues for support. All of the science teachers certainly encourage that in our students and hope that they will keep that curiosity going forward. That’s still an important part of learning.”