Expert medical professionals in the classroom, that’s been the secret to the unique partnership between Baylor Scott and White Hospital and Uplift Education. “Does anybody have an idea what respiratory therapists do?” asked the trio of therapists who visited the school recently. But some times, the partnership to get kids into medical careers may not work quite as hoped, especially because medicine can be gross. “We’re teaching them what a healthy lung looks like, what a diseased lung looks like, and then also the anatomy of lungs,” said Myisha Edwards, a respiratory therapist. Edwards was showing off pig lungs, which are similar to human lungs, and one of them looked a little off-putting… as it’s diseased. That didn’t stop the students from diving right in. “It feels really squishy, like a marshmallow,” said one.   They learned exactly how lungs operate and what you should see when they’re working properly. “This is the trachea going down, and then you have it to the right and the left,” said one of the medical professionals, demonstrating using the pig lungs. But it was still clear that many of the students were “half disgusted.” “They don’t want to come near the station, but also, a lot of them are very interested to see the lungs and touch them and ventilate them,” said Edwards. “They were preserved, and I think formaldehyde and it had a very pungent odor. And I said, That’s not for me,” said Elisa Cruz, a student. Cruz started off in the program wanting to be a pediatric nurse, but the hands-on work she did alongside Baylor professionals gave her pause.  “I kind of got a little bit anxious around those things, as much as I’m very curious about all those subjects. I found that if I ever had to do that with a real-life patient, I would probably be very, very anxious about being sued or harming the patient unintentionally,” she said. Teachers said it is still a success, helping students learn whether working hands-on with patients is a good fit. Some may still want to be administrators or find another adjacent career path. Not everyone disliked it; some were more impressed with how it all worked. It’s all part of the journey, learning in the classroom early on.  Even if the pig lungs grossed them out, there was yet another terrific takeaway. “No smoking. No vaping. Kids don’t smoke,” said one of the students. Carter in the Classroom Carter in the classroom Dec 29, 2025 Carter in the Classroom: A look back at 2025 Carter in the classroom Sep 12, 2025 From D to B: Cedar Hill's Highlands Elementary makes big gains on TEA report card Carter in the classroom Nov 15, 2024 High-performing North Texas school uses science to create ...read more read less