Tague is also the advisor for the Astronomy, Art and Dungeons & Dragons clubs.
By Amilia Wu,
Staff Writer
Standing in the front of the room, Anatomy/Physiology and Biology teacher Vy Tague surveys the class as students assemble paper mechanical hands while learning about the muscular system. Loud chatter and laughter filled the room as they pieced together their haphazard creations.
Tague integrates a largely project-based curriculum in her teaching, allowing students to learn about the different parts and systems of the body through hands-on activities including creating a lung model, bone marrow diagram and skin cell cube out of various materials in her Anatomy/Physiology classes.
“We did pig dissections after school,” junior Tatiana Liang said. “She really gives up her free time to help us with these dissections. It’s actually really cool to see what you have in front of you is what you’ve been learning about in your textbook, that it’s a real, tangible thing.”
Students also conduct experimental labs, film videos and write stories for some of their lab-related activities.
“She’s definitely helped me get into things like the health field,” senior Ethan Banh said. “I’ve been exploring that career path a lot more. She puts so much effort and work into making sure her students are caught up with work and getting the best opportunities they can.”
Classes focus on more than just physical health, with mental health days and in-class teachings. Drawing from her own experiences, she provides support to students with sporadic “mental health Mondays,” in which the class serves as a period to de-stress from a hectic academic environment. She presents various lessons on life skills, such as learning how to set boundaries.
“I want to make sure that the kids have the skills to cope with whatever they’re going through,” Tague said. “Just so they know that there’s at least one person who cares for their mental health, who cares for their well-being more than just their education.”
The class provides an environment for students to discover the world of physiology in an interactive learning environment. As a pillar of support, Tague guides and encourages students every step of the way.
“I feel like everybody should know how their body works, and the special things that your body can actually do,” junior Angeline Araya said. “She is very open to teaching us about new stuff, and even if there’s something on the curriculum that we’re not learning, she’ll open up and talk about it. She tries her best to really help us understand how our body works.”