The Pearl — a medical innovation district in midtown Charlotte — officially opened its doors less than a year ago. Its 26 acres include the Charlotte campus of Wake Forest University School of Medicine — and a STEM lab for students not yet old enough to enroll in med school. In recent weeks, each third grade classroom at Charlotte Latin has gone on a field trip to The Pearl, with eye-opening results.

“They had a whole day of advanced experiential learning, with no breaks or recess, and our students stayed engaged and did impressive work,” says Third Grade Lead Teacher Jorashae Graddick.

“Such a cool space, and the kids had a great learning experience,” adds Third Grade Teacher Laura Balabushka.

One notable activity: the lab provided the students with suture kits and taught them how to do actual surgical stitching. “That was my favorite part,” reports Mihika, a third grader. “I didn’t know that you could stitch in different ways.” As a result of the hands-on experience, she now wants to be a heart surgeon (or possibly a brain surgeon). 

The centerpiece of each visit, however, was a case study of an actual patient, a 14-year-old who had suffered a serious head injury. Students were given the job of designing a protective helmet for that patient, molding it with clay (fitting it to a model of a human skull), and building a prototype with cardboard. 

“You can get so inspired by making something out of cardboard,” says Henry, another third grader. His helmet prototype not only featured a bell for added nighttime safety, it had three high-powered buttons, one for an emergency stop, one that would let its wearer fly, and another that made it usable underwater. “When I grow up, I want to be a designer of safety gear,” declares Henry.

Charlotte Latin’s visit to The Pearl reinforced the work they’ve been doing in classrooms this year with language arts, scientific exploration, and collaboration. Furthermore, the field trip opened up new fields of curiosity and gave some of the third graders aspirations for their adult lives.

Medical school can’t come soon enough for some of them, Graddick reports. “One student wants to practice with the suture kits every day,” she says. “If you ever walk into my classroom during quiet time, you might see him doing surgical stitching.”