RIO RANCHO, N.M. — Forensics brings a new field trip daily for students in Ms. Kristen Sidor’s class. Their new anatomage table is their magic school bus.

“It really does make it fun instead of just looking at a piece of paper and trying to figure something out from one way. With the table you can play games, it brings a new way of learning to this type of education,” said Bailey Zatorski, a senior in forensics class. 

The senior-level course at Cleveland High School just rolled out its anatomy table this year.

“It’s much more visual. Since I am a visual learner, it has helped me see like, ‘Oh, that makes sense!’’ said Lannah Leatherberry, a senior in forensics class. 

The table has a list of real files to pull from. It creates a more well-rounded curriculum without dissecting animals. 

“They were able to get more than just seeing a stationary model or a video. They were able to take things away, to look at it from all different angles,” said Kristen Sidor, a forensics and ninth-grade science teacher.

Students say they understand how rare this technology is in a high school classroom. Many of them are now looking into jobs in the field. 

“I feel so lucky to be in high school and be able to use this technology. I always said I was going to take a forensics class in college and maybe do some autopsies,” said Bailey Zatorski and Ashley Pelner, seniors in forensics class.

Aside from students getting more engaged in learning, students have also improved their grades.

“We did a quiz on this not that long ago, I don’t think anybody got any of them wrong. Which was really cool to see with a lot of these kids not having anatomy previously,” said Sidor.  

Rio Rancho Public Schools is the only district with this technology. Rio Rancho High School and Independence High School also have a table.