Students in Human Growth and Development class had the opportunity to wear a pregnancy empathy belly for an entire school day at the end of the first quarter. As extra credit, students wore the belly from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. 

Aubrey Wilson (10) wore the belly in late October. She said the empathy belly affects how people sit down, get up after sitting down, pick something up, lay down, etc. 

After wearing the belly, students had to write a summary on how it went and what they liked or learned from the experience. 

Teacher Christian Carper thinks the most important aspect of the project is learning empathy. 

“Not only are the students having to deal with the discomfort and weight of wearing the belly, but they are also dealing with everyone else at school,” Carper said. “The participants often describe in their reflection how it felt having people stare at them, make jokes, and say things to them.”