On May 9-10th, Mrs. Lana Barth and Mrs. Kim Mooney attended the 2024 Organ & Tissue Donation Awareness (OTDA) Spring Conference held at Wyndham Garden State College. 

OTDA has been a successful part of Pennsylvania education for over 20 years and promotes grant opportunities that further provide avenues for teachers and students to expand their own awareness surrounding organ and tissue donation. Resources such as tool kits, educational activities, and lesson plans are accessible through OTDA. 

Dr. Carrie Rowe, pictured with Mrs. Barth and Mrs. Mooney, was the opening speaker. Dr. Carrie Rowe currently serves as the Deputy Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) in the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The other guest speaker was Dr. Thomas Butler, a board-certified fellowship-trained abdominal transplant, hepatobiliary, and robotic surgeon. Other guests included LeeAnn Richter and her uncle. LeeAnn donated a liver to her uncle in 2023 and shared their story and recovery. Many other speakers talked on various topics that expanded on the reasons to say yes to organ donation. 

Mrs. Barth and Mrs. Mooney hope to receive grant money to purchase some items for the Seneca Highlands Career and Technical Center that will introduce this important topic and plan on incorporating what they learned into some lessons on organ donation. Teachers can use grant monies to provide valuable tools to their classrooms, take meaningful field trips, and add to their existing curriculum. If interested, anyone can register as an organ and tissue donor and say yes to saving lives by going to donors1.org.