Juniors Louiz Vega and Ali Madera in Kimberly Tretton’s Forensics class collect fingerprints and lip imprints during the class’s mock homicide Wednesday.
Photo by Sarah Drinkwine.
After arriving first to the scene of a reported mock homicide on Wednesday morning at the Douglas High School apartments, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Mike Goldwater secured the area and called upon Kimberly Tretton’s Forensics class to investigate the crime.
“At this time, we are collecting evidence, pulling fingerprints and whatever we can find,” said team leader and junior Drake Ulner. “We have one suspect so far, someone with the name Peil. He was seen leaving the scene this morning.”
Ulner’s team was one of two working to solve the murder of Mayble O’Keefe.
The mock homicide is a crime scene practical exercise part of the forensics class offered at the high school.
Tretton said the class has been offered at the high school for at least 18 years.
“It started out as more of a chemistry perspective and I have a biology background, so I added that aspect to the class and created what it is today,” said Tretton.
Tretton said the class has one lab per week where students learn different aspects of forensic science from containing a crime scene, collecting and analyzing evidence, to burn labs and understanding how something reacts and discovering the source of a fire.
“It’s very interesting and a good class if you want to go into law enforcement or firefighting,” said senior Zephyr Delgado.
In Wednesday’s scenario, students put their skills to the test and worked together to solve the mock homicide. Some students were the suspects while the others were investigators split into two teams, each given a specific job like security, sketchers and interviewers.
Goldwater and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Investigators Ryan Grant were on the scene to provide students with realistic advice and procedures on crime scene investigations.
“It can be overwhelming to come on to a scene and they are learning the steps of breaking it down,” said Grant.
Goldwater said being on scene with students makes him wish something like the class was offered when he was in high school.
“It’s a huge boost and opens up doors for them, giving them a chance to see if this is something they like and want to pursue,” he said.
Not only, does the class provide a look into forensic science, but it provides an opportunity for students to think critically and to be open minded.
“The biggest take away they are learning is to not just take things as they are, but to see things from a different perspective; which is a huge lesson for anything in life,” said Goldwater.
Tretton said that’s the part that makes the class worthwhile.
“As a teacher that’s the ultimate goal,” she said. “We want students to ask questions, be interested, engaged, and have fun. This class can be challenging and stressful, but at the end of the day the goal is to have students walk away knowing they learned something useful and had fun in the process.”
