At first glance it looks like any other summer camp. Yes, the subject, forensics, was interesting, but still it was a summer camp. Or was it?

Left: An instructor shows a group of students how to begin processing materials for laboratory analysis. Right: Is this a blood stain? To know for sure, students collect evidence at their crime scene for further scrutiny.

Several weeks before high school students came to campus for the week, upper division and transfer students were in the middle of a cluster of classes designed to accomplish several goals. Classes would share examples and activities connecting concepts from different subjects into a cohesive whole. Credit for these classes would count toward a major rather than general education courses. University students were able to apply what they learned almost immediately by serving as mentors/instructors to the high school students.

For its initial undertaking, the project used forensics as its subject area. This brought attention to the university’s forensics concentration and its agreement with the Cumberland County Office of the District Attorney Forensics Laboratory while at the same time giving students a fun learning experience.

For the university classes, students toured the crime lab facilities, listened to guest speakers, and saw actual examples of the techniques they were learning. One guest speaker was Alexis Them ’02, who is the bio-terrorism response coordinator for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources. “I was really impressed,” said chemistry major Susan Zbegner.

Then it was on to summer camp.

After two days of learning about testing, touring labs, and working with professionals from both the university and the forensics lab, the summer camp students found their crime scene, collected and analyzed the evidence, and presented their findings in a simulated courtroom.

The university students enjoyed the experience and took pride in their campers. As senior biology major Sandra Lynch said, “I was amazed at the growth they accomplished in just one week. As (they) began the week, they were apprehensive about using the equipment. When it came time to process and analyze the evidence from their mock crime scene, they proceeded without the need of assistance from the instructors.”

“It was a new challenge teaching younger students but it was very rewarding,” Susan said. “I feel like I learned a great deal in a short amount of time and had fun while doing so.”