Jill Ohlsen

Ohlsen plans to expand Castle High School's current anatomy and physiology course to include a classroom set of sensors designed to measure students' personal physiological measurements including muscular, cardiovascular and respiratory systems throughout the year. Ohlsen emphasizes the theme "structure indicates function" in her classes, but students have had a difficult time grasping how their anatomical parts work together to make the human body function. Her program, "Who's Ready for Tour d'Indiana?", will monitor each student's systems and then compare these measurements to those of world-class athletes. According to Ohlsen, the program will motivate students to learn more about how their own bodies work and help them internalize the importance of physical activity and regular exercise. She believes the proposed personal performance measurement program will help them understand this concept better by bringing their personal anatomy "alive" through a series of measurements, tests and monitoring. Ultimately, she hopes students will become advocates for physiologically healthy choices in their communities. Ohlsen resides in Evansville.