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| Lucas Hall, Wang Her and Johnathan Vargas investigate the scene of the crime at Marysville High School. |
Student investigators are unprepared for the grisly scene that awaits them in Room 204 at Marysville High School. Undeterred by the yellow tape warning “Crime Scene: Do Not Enter,” they duck beneath it and go inside.
“The poor dummy,” one of them mutters under his breath, looking at the pale, blonde female figure wearing a jogging suit lying in a pool of dried blood.
“I think that’s Resuscitation Annie,” whispers another student, horrified at the fate of the mannequin that’s usually used for teaching CPR.
Standing outside, ushering in the students a few at a time, is Vera Bryan, a member of the Marysville Unified Teachers Association. She has worked all morning to create the CSI: Marysville scene for her students — all in the name of science.
“Listen up,” she sternly tells each group of students before they enter. “You have five minutes. You probably won’t get all of the evidence. But ‘eyeball’ what’s there and make notes about your observations. Keep your eyes open.”
Bryan has made the crime scene as convenient as possible, even thoughtfully numbering the clues, which students furiously jotted down in their notebooks. The evidence reflects the wild happenings that apparently led up to the “murder” and included cigarette butts, a coffee cup with lipstick, beer bottles, a telephone off the hook, a bag of white powder, a syringe and a bullet shell. Twins Jaime and Jessica Munoz astutely observed that underneath Annie’s fingernail was a shred of fabric.
“Maybe it ripped when she was fighting her attacker,” muses Jaime as Jessica nods. When they get to the letter on the table, their eyes widen.
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| Vera Bryan came out of retirement to develop a course that provides a practical application for the sciences and shows their relevance. |
“Matthew, my dearest love,” it begins. “I don’t know how much longer this affair can go on. … I think your wife is getting suspicious.” The letter ends abruptly with what appears to be a trail of blood.
“I feel just like I’m on a TV show,” marvels student Elise Fields.
Bryan teaches one of the few high school forensics classes in California. She started the ROP course for 11th- and 12th-graders three years ago — and even came out of retirement to teach it — after being inspired by the crime scene investigation (CSI) television shows and attending a seminar on forensic science in Sacramento.
“This is something the kids jump right into and want to take,” says Bryan. “I do my best to make it relevant to their lives. I don’t have many absences. This course covers biology and chemistry because they study toxicology and poison. When they look in the soil for clues about decomposition, they learn about earth science. When we do ballistics and firearms — studying blood spattering in all directions — we work with geometry, trigonometry and physics. At the end of the year they touch on entomology, because insects can help indicate the time of death.”
“This class offers a practical application for many things. It also teaches them to think, make detailed observations and communicate. In essence, I want them to be analytical thinkers.”
And, of course, students study DNA or genetic fingerprinting. Through a partnership with UC Davis, Bryan receives special DNA kits that include the study of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which occurs when only a tiny sample of DNA is available and must be “amplified” by mechanical means.
“It’s awesome,” says an enthusiastic Bryan, who designed the curriculum herself. “We get to use the same equipment they use in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. And students are learning that there are many careers to think about besides being a doctor, lawyer or fireman.”
Bryan has big plans for her class throughout the year. Students will collect evidence from more crime scenes and hold a mock trial based on their findings. They will study the decay of a decomposing pig on a nearby ranch. And they will accompany police to a shooting range in Yuba City to study firearms.
“I did retire after nearly 40 years of teaching,” says Bryan. “But when they asked me to come back and teach forensics and be science department head, I said yes.”
Her students are glad she did. Two of them even travel from a neighboring high school just to take the class.
“It’s not like any class I’ve ever had before,” says Daniel Stentz. “We’re not just reading books. We’re doing things that are really cool.”
“I took the class at first because it sounded like fun,” says Troy Harmon. “But now I’m looking at this as a career.”
