RHS Students Compete in “CSI Challenge”

Fifty-Five Tri-State Teams Competed in a Crime Scene Investigation

(April 7, 2008 – Riverhead, NY) Twelve highly trained RHS Forensics students formed a team to test their investigative skills and to compete in the “CSI Challenge” conducted on the Brentwood Campus of Suffolk County Community College on Friday, April 4, 2008. They joined hundreds of other would-be detectives from the tri-state area competing to solve the mysterious murder of a blackjack dealer at Clam’s Casino Royale.

The scene of the crime was a phony casino and 55 teams gleaned evidence from crime scene booths, studied fabricated bones and peered into microscopes as a house band played lounge music. The fictitious crime scene was designed by police officers and forensic pathologists, and the students had to follow strict investigative procedures. Off-duty police and medical examiners acted as judges while student teams collected evidence and made their analysis. The teams were also judged on teamwork and interviewing techniques.

While some students dusted for fingerprints or scanned computer databases, others interviewed suspects like Oyster Rock A. Fella and Ivanna B. Badd.

“I was a forensic scientist at the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office for over 13 years,” stated RHS Forensics teacher Kelly Evers. “This was a great opportunity for the students to see it isn't as simple as they make it seem on CSI. The competition enabled the students to apply the skills they have learned in forensics class as well as math, English, critical reasoning, and cooperative learning. It was incredible to see the students working so hard and having so much fun at the same time.”

The winning team members from the top three schools were offered partial scholarships to CW Post. The killer was casino owner Monte Carlo, and the three top teams were St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows (first place), Earl L. Vandermeulen High School in Port Jefferson (second place) and Brooklyn Tech (third place).

The RHS team consisted of the following students:
Allyson Cosgrove, Julie Zilnicki, Angelika Faron, Rachel Grathwohl, Brianna Dammers, Melissa Barnes, Susan Monahan (chemistry teacher), Amanda Racaniello, Andrea Hill, Steven Ryan, Ryan Farrell, Chris Clement, Thomas Houghton & Kelly Evers (Advisor/Forensic Teacher)

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