The school district is looking to bring virtual reality into the classroom to help students train for healthcare careers, advancing to the next round of consideration for a major state grant.

The district submitted its application on June 19 for a Rural Health Transformation Program grant, requesting $600,000 to launch a new healthcare professional career track. 

The initiative, titled “Grow Our Own: VR-Enabled K-12 Healthcare Certification Pipeline for Rural Alaska,” aims to solve a long-standing challenge: How to provide advanced science instruction without medical staff on hand.

While the school district has a science teacher, it lacks the instructional expertise needed to teach complex subjects like anatomy and physiology. By introducing virtual reality headsets and software called syGlass, the district wants to transform ordinary classrooms into high-tech science laboratories.

Schools Superintendent Joshua Garrett, who submitted the grant proposal with school board approval, said the technology would give students a significant advantage.

“It offers a unique opportunity,” Garrett said. “We will also be looking for professional development and staffing to help and guide it for training students.”

The Alaska Department of Health earlier this month selected health clinics, hospitals, tribes, local governments, school districts and other entities to apply for a share of the $272 million in federal funding Alaska received this year through the Rural Health Transformation Program.

Congress created the nationwide $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Program last year.

After sifting through nearly 1,800 funding proposals, Alaska state officials narrowed down the potential projects to a list of just over 400 that will undergo further consideration this month before final funding decisions are made, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Wrangell made that first cut.

The Wrangell proposal program is primarily designed to assist students who want to become certified nursing assistants or pursue other high-demand medical careers. Garrett said he hopes the curriculum will also be beneficial to students who plan to study pre-med courses in college.

The first-year funding limits for the grant range from $250,000 to $1 million. Garrett said the district is asking for $600,000 to keep the request realistic, in hopes of achieving a higher probability of award.

The primary expenses for the program will cover equipment, hardware and software, making it a valuable addition to the school’s technology options.

Through the virtual reality platform, middle and high school students would study highly detailed, interactive 3D anatomical models guided by virtual lessons from medical experts. The curriculum would go beyond basic viewing, requiring students to complete three-dimensional assessments to prove their understanding.

Students could earn college credits and professional certifications.

Other grant applications advancing to this stage include an initiative by the Tanana Chiefs Conference to deliver vaccines to Interior villages using drones, and proposals to distribute wearable health monitoring devices to rural residents to track blood pressure and other biometric data.

If approved, the Wrangell grant would initially fund a one-year pilot program, with the school district hoping to extend it into a five-year project. The long-term plan involves expanding the curriculum to neighboring school districts, while partnering with regional healthcare providers like the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium.

Garrett envisions the project making an impact far beyond the immediate community.

“I hope that getting it could serve to have us as a pilot program for other schools in Southeast,” Garrett said. “One possibly could be that this could help expand the certified nursing assistant program already in place through SEARHC and the school.”