excited about science

Eagle High school students in Idaho are all about CSI with teacher Misty Sterk. She first became interested in forensics after reading about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey and the Columbine massacre, cases covered by some of the Fair Justice Foundation investigators. Ms. Sterk's message to her class is that crime scene processing is not at all like one sees in TV series and says "Every victim has a story to tell. And every suspect has a story to tell. When all three of those match up, you've found the truth." --

In 'CSI: Eagle High,' Idaho students learn crime scene techniques
Posted in the Idaho Statesman
By Joe Estrella

"Rhees Stilinovich and David Dionato spent a day last week examining blood types and DNA at a crime scene.

"A person's blood type can put them at the scene," Stilinovich said. "But their DNA can link them to the crime."

Stilinovich, 16, and Dionato, 17, are not cops on TV. They are kids in Eagle, part of a class that is getting students excited about science by processing a crime scene, using maggots to determine time of death, fingerprinting, analyzing blood spatters, determining race and gender based on skeletal remains, DNA testing and ballistics.

...The course is the brainchild of Eagle High School biology teacher Misty Sterk. About another 60 students will take the class next semester and the hope is to turn forensic science into a yearlong course next year.

Sterk became intrigued with forensic medicine while she was a student at the University of Colorado. She saw daily reports on the investigation into the JonBenet Ramsey murder in 1996 and the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.

She said her first job with the 60 students who signed up for her class this semester has been to emphasize that a career in forensic science is nothing like what they see each week in the various incarnations of the "CSI" television series....[...read more]