‘Froggin’ Awesome: TeachKind Science’s 2024 Pilot Program Highlights

Cutting-edge anatomy lessons that don’t involve cutting apart dead animals? They’re here! And thanks to PETA’s TeachKind Science pilot program, even more students got to experience them during the 2023–2024 school year.

The pilot program helps schools replace archaic animal dissection with superior, modern, humane software programs and hands-on, realistic simulation models. This year, PETA donated nearly 1,500 Expandable Mind accounts and over 600 SynFrogs, providing ethical resources to roughly 4,300 students across 24 states.

Thanks to PETA, these students and their teachers are empowered to stand up against speciesism, saving the lives of hundreds of living, feeling individuals who shouldn’t be used for dissection.

Let’s hop into the highlights!

Teachers Give TeachKind Top Marks

After participating in the program, 84% of teachers preferred animal-free dissection. Here’s a summary of some of their feedback:

• PETA’s donations were praised as “revolutionary teaching tools” and “one of the most amazing experiences.”
• 100% believe that non-animal methods are an effective tool for teaching anatomy.
• 79% worry about formaldehyde exposure from animal dissections.
• 50% would support legislative efforts to end animal dissection.

Participating teachers observed significant improvements in student performance and engagement. This initiative fostered lasting humane changes in their classrooms, encouraging students to prioritize animal rights. Here’s what three teachers had to say about the program and its success:

“This year I had the opportunity to pilot PETA’s TeachKind science resource called eMind, which utilizes virtual pig dissection. The visuals are the real thing, but virtual. There is no mess, no waste, and no emotion. Students can explore without feeling the internal conflict that real dissection generates. The stress is gone; I know that there are twenty-five fewer fetal pigs on a dissection table, twenty-five fewer fetal pigs being purchased from the meat industry, and twenty-five fewer fetal pigs and preservation chemicals entering the waste stream, and more money in the Science budget. I know I made the right choice, the best choice, for all animals involved. And this is the right choice for the planet. I completely support banning the use of all animals for dissection in our schools.”

“Thank you so much for the opportunity to use the SynFrogs in our classrooms! It was an awesome experience. The students loved it too. They were amazed at how realistic they were! They were so much easier to clean up afterward. The students even told me it was fun, which is a big statement coming from a senior in May when nothing is fun to them!”

“I decided to eliminate dissection from my classes as I consistently noticed more and more students opting out of dissection and/or having internal conflicts with the entire process. State law does not allow a teacher to require this of students and therefore it was more often a waste of time. In addition, the cost was very high. It represented about $1,500 of our budget every year. Now I use reusable fake skins to teach suturing and the students really enjoy it. They even buy their own suturing kits to practice!”

Students Swoon Over SynFrogs

And it wasn’t just the teachers who loved the program. Their students were also brimming with praise:

“It was really fun because I didn’t have to worry about it being an actual frog and that I would accidentally mess up the organs. The SynFrogs were a good alternative because each organ was clear to see and served the full purpose of a dissection, something that real frogs don’t typically fulfil.”

“I loved this. I always knew one day I would have to dissect a frog, but I knew I would be sad seeing the frog and a bit grossed out. The SynFrog was amazing it was so realistic and had so many details which I admired. I never dissected a real frog so my first ever dissection was great even if the frog wasn’t real, it was much better!”

Jumpstart Your Involvement

Animal dissection is cruel and unnecessary, and it teaches students all the wrong lessons about how to treat others. Fortunately, educators at all levels are implementing modern, humane methods. TeachKind invites you to take part in this exciting program in the coming school year. Leap into action by clicking here to sign up.