By Meara Isenberg

staff writer

@mearaannee

A student who walked into the Coppell High School library on Monday morning may not have noticed anything strange about the popular student study spot, however, if they ventured a little further in, it would be impossible to miss the fluorescent yellow crime scene tape lining the walls.

This tape marked the first crime scene investigation of the year for Susan Sheppard and Sandy Kirkpatrick’s Forensic Science students.

The investigation has impacted the students in ways that extend far beyond the classroom, into their actual lives. Junior Sara Smith, who wants to study Forensic Science in college, is no exception.

“It’s interesting and exciting,” Smith said. “You’re able to put yourself into a situation where you have to figure out what actually happened.”

After switching her major multiple times in college, Forensic Science teacher Ms. Sheppard knows the importance of finding the right career path, and recognizes how the class can help students identify if they really want to pursue forensic science.

“If they decide to stay in the field, then they have some background experience to build on, they have some background knowledge that’s going to help them with their college coursework and in their professional experiences,” Sheppard said.

Smith’s investigation group was joined by six others that were assigned to seven different crime scene scenarios ranging from robberies to murders. She walked into the library on Monday not knowing what to expect.

“Our crime scene was over in one of the studies on the right side of the library,” Smith said. “It was a convenience store robbery.”

The first order of business for Smith and her group was to document the evidence so they could see what they were working with.

“We had to take pictures of all the evidence,” Smith said. “For instance, there were gun shells and money all over the floor, and then there was a little gun in one of the chairs, so we basically had to document that.”

Then the team had to think outside the box to piece together the scenario based on the evidence they found.

“We are going to do a report on it and basically conclude what we think happened to the victim,” Smith said.

Former DNA analyst and current Forensic Science teacher Ms. Kirkpatrick found authentic paperwork for the students to document their findings on. She hopes this will give her students a correct perception of what forensic science is in the real world- not just on tv.

“The experience can help them because not all crime scenes are going to be the same, they’re not like what you see on CSI, so trying to give them that reality check that CSI is for hollywood, and that’s not actually how it works,” Kirkpatrick said.

Although this is her first investigation, Smith as learned some things that she believes may help her future crime fighting career.

“The robberies and the burglaries, you know it happens almost every day, I’m more prepared for what I’m going to see,” Smith said.

On the other side of the library, Senior Jaden Ferguson sat in her crime scene area, trying to figure out a lead.

“I’ve always liked Forensic Science, and i heard good things about this class so I thought I’d take it for the fun of it,” Ferguson said.

Besides the evidence, Ferguson used what she learned in the classroom to come to a conclusion.

“We go over a lot of the information in class, all our basic questions and vocabulary stuff,” Ferguson said. “It’s stuff we actually need to know, so it’s very helpful in the class too.”

Although she doesn’t have the same career path in mind as Smith, Ferguson sees how what she learned in this experiment can apply to her life.

“[This helps] in the real world, so that we understand how laws work, what people can do, and how to avoid things,” Ferguson said.

Straight across from Ferguson’s group were two mannequins with sheets of paper taped to their chests.

The crime scene was assigned to senior Tyler Ramburg’s group, who already had a clue to what might have happened.

“So far we’ve concluded from the letters that there’s two girlfriends and this guy,” Ramburg said. “He wanted to be with both of them but couldn’t choose.”

A letter found at the crime scene was a huge help in the investigation.

“The letter sitting here it tells us that Scarlett, this is her house, the crime scene, Ramburg said. “The other girl is trying to get him to choose [her], pulling him away. We think that [Scarlett] killed the other girl.”

Although the activity required Ramburg to be very meticulous, he believes the work paid off.

“We have to write down every little piece of evidence, all the bullet casings, the letters they wrote to each other, how she doesn’t have clothes, he has nine bullet holes in his back,” Ramburg said. “It’s pretty fun. If you pay attention, It’s a lot of common sense.”

Although her class was unable to package the material, Ms. Kirkpatrick still feels like her class got a lot out of the investigation.

“They were really engaged, they were very thoughtful, we got some very creative solutions to what their crime scenes could represent,” Kirkpatrick said. “Overall I was very pleased with it. It gives them the hands on experience that they might not nesicarily get reading a textbook.”

This will not be the last hands on experience for forensic science.

“We have a lot of authentic experiences planned throughout the year that are central to units,” Sheppard said. “Right now the unit they’re in is fingerprinting… we are going to have them fingerprint actual objects, like a car, or their cellphones, or something like that.”