One criminal investigator, one K-9 police officer, and lots of excited students. This was not a normal day in Scott Schmitt’s class.

Schmitt, a Public Safety Instructor at Whitewater High, invited Special Agent Daniella Stuart of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Sergeant Chris Robison of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit to provide students an in-depth look into their career fields.

Stuart spoke to Schmitt’s Forensics class about Crime Scene Investigation where students had the opportunity to learn about a crime scene including blood spatter analysis, bullet trajectory, and collecting evidence.

This was a perfect opportunity for students to hear real-world experiences with forensics as most of the students are on the Forensics and Criminal Investigation pathway with hopes of becoming medical examiners, coroners, forensic anthropologists or forensic scientists.

“My students loved the CSI aspect, learning how to investigate crime scenes and using the evidence left behind to solve the crime,” says Schmitt.

Stuart stressed to students the importance learning math skills in high school as these are necessary tools she uses in the field every day. She also displayed the newest tech tools used by the GBI at various crime scenes.

Students also had the opportunity to tour the GBI mobile crime scene unit and view the different components of a crime scene investigation.

Starting a new unit on Crime Scene Investigation, Schmitt used this as a moment for students to gain hands-on experience in forensics, “I wanted Stuart to demonstrate how the principles of fluid dynamics are used to reconstruct a crime scene and I wanted students to understand how a crime scene uses the evidence left behind to communicate to the investigator.”

For those students looking into careers as future K-9 officers, Sergeant Chris Robison of the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department K-9 Unit was there with his dog to provide students insight into the details of his job.

Robison explained that K-9 officers are law enforcement professionals who partner with police dogs (K9s) to detect illegal substances such as narcotics or explosives.

Students learned the importance of the relationship between the dog and the officer after witnessing the dog respond quickly to Robison’s commands. Schmitt says, “The students were very impressed with the amount of discipline the dog obtained, and watching how well the officer worked with the dog to complete a task.”