After learning of a process whereby animals are decomposed, Anthony Fiala, Anatomy and Physiology teacher, requested a grant to help pay for a colony of flesh-eating beetles.

While visiting the Illinois Math and Science Academy, Fiala said he was intrigued by the skeletons that were present in the science classrooms of the school. Fiala has been interested in improving his classrooms’ environments ever since he began working at Glenbrook North five years ago.

“[The Illinois Math and Science Academy] had full skeletons of a lot of different animals which I thought were very cool,” said Fiala. “But then when you look up to see how much those skeletons cost, they are very cost prohibitive.”

The process of animal decomposition that Fiala learned of involved Dermestid Beetles, more commonly known as Skin Beetles. In this process a colony of Skin Beetles eats the flesh of a dead animal leaving the skeleton behind.

The Glenbrook Foundation granted Fiala a $2,000 Innovation Grant. According to science instructional supervisor Mary Rockrohr, an Innovation Grant is given to projects that are new and “a little different.”

Now that Fiala has the grant money, he is waiting for the school to provide a room in which this permanent experiment can take place. Once Fiala buys a colony of the Dermestid Beetles, the beetles will continue to reproduce and grow as long as they are taken care of properly and fed regularly by Fiala and his students. Fiala said that the beetles will most likely be fed hot dogs when there are no carcasses off of which they can feed.

This project will be taking place both in and out of the classroom because Fiala believes that it is important for students to get involved with a teacher as much as possible. This means working on classroom projects even after the school day and school year end.