Though many science classes can be considered boring to students, a new science class like forensics has begun to intrigue students with hands on activities including a mock crime scene and fingerprinting.
“It started between myself and Mrs. Selbe trying to work it in Biology and make CSO’s, which is the content that we teach you,” said biology and forensics teacher Brian McNeel. “The board office caught on to it, and they decided to make an official CSO and turn it into a class.”
Bringing forensics in to the program has made an impact on the choices of students who want to be in this field when they are older.
“I’ve always kind of had the idea of doing forensics in the back of my mind because of all the CSI shows, so when the class came out, I automatically signed up,” said junior Kayley Stevens. “And even in the first week, it immediately caught my interest even more. So now I know what I want to be when I’m older.”
Forensics is the study of science to matters of the law, which is studying evidence at crime scenes to find a perpetrator.
“Forensics is basically all about studying DNA and other kinds of evidence to match a criminal to a crime,” said Stevens.
Not only is forensics an option for students who aspire to be in this field, but it is also a science credit to attract more students in to joining.
“I first signed up for it just because all the other science classes seemed boring or hard and I really needed a science credit,” said junior Madison Powell. “But now I’m really interested in it, and it’s one of the more fun classes that I’ve taken.”
According to McNeel, forensics is a mixture of all four sciences which makes it the most exciting; physical, biology, chemistry and physics.
“Forensics being with all four sciences gives me a lot of ideas for great labs to get the students really interested in it,” said Mcneel. “The labs are consisting of DNA fingerprinting, burning fibers, blood spatter patterns and many more really cool things to learn about.”
According to forensics student Powell, she highly recommends forensics for anyone needing a science credit and something interesting to learn.
“We’re always learning new things about hair or fibers that nobody even knows about,” said Powell. “And we haven’t even learned the best of it yet. I wish I could just take this class every year.”
Forensics is taught upstairs by McNeel, and any student can sign up for this class in the counselor’s office for next year.