Dade County 4-H’s First Forensics Summer Camp

By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor

Each summer, Dade County’s 4-H program offers a number of activities for kids that balance education, exploration, and just plain fun. Along with activities like zip lining, cave tours, forestry judging (learning how to identify species and use a compass and forestry tools), and a joint FFA and 4-H Agricultural Camp, this year featured a new option: Forensics Camp.

This camp is thanks to UGA Extension Agent Laura Beth Cunnigham’s background in forensics. She earned her undergraduate degree in criminal justice, interned with the United States Secret Service while in her senior year at Georgia State University, and served a short stint with the Dekalb County Police Department. Then, she earned her masters from Wichita State University in Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology.

While Cunningham doesn’t typically get to put this educational and career background to use in her work with UGA Extension, 4-H, or her family’s farm, this summer camp gave her the chance to share her forensics knowledge with the kids.

Over July 8-10, a handful of students (fifth grade and up) gathered at the Dade County Agriculture Extension & 4-H building in the afternoons to learn about forensic careers, fingerprinting, investigation techniques, evidence collection, forensic anthropology and entomology, and crime scene basics. They participated in hand-on activities like crime investigation simulations.

Cunningham did much of the teaching, but she also brought in Misty McConathy (detective with the Dade County Sheriff’s Office) to teach about fingerprinting on Monday. This was in preparation for an activity the next day with agents from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Cunningham said, “We tried to prepare for GBI coming by talking about trace evidence and investigative basics.”

Special Agents Evan Driskill and Ean Cain from GBI’s Investigative Division helped the students fingerprint themselves and lift fingerprints using tape on Tuesday afternoon. They showed them how to tell the difference between real and fake blood. Tuesday concluded with a mock crime scene.

Driskill and Cain are from the Calhoun field office, and they handle crime scene investigation in 12 counties, including Dade. Cunningham was glad that the pair brought in equipment that she otherwise wouldn’t be able to show the campers.

Wednesday brought together everything the kids had learned in the form of an autopsy simulation (i.e. pickles filled with BB gun ammo) and fraud investigation (piecing together shredded documents and deciphering information from the pieces).

Cunningham chose to lead a camp on forensics because of her background and because it’s something new and different to offer the kids, plus there are a number of career options tied to forensics.

As for the campers, they found the subject interesting but don’t anticipate pursuing careers in forensics. Hazel Grace Taylor knows forensics isn’t for her because she doesn’t like blood, but Tahlia Santos said, “Maybe for like a year or two, but there are probably other things I’d want to do.” Sawyer Knaby said that working for the GBI in particular seemed interesting, while Braxton Wood said, “As cool as forensics is, I don’t think I want a career in it.”

When Cunningham asked the campers at the end of Monday about what they liked the most from that day, they each answered with something different. Cunningham said, “It’s always interesting with kids what piques this one’s interest and what gets somebody else more interested.”

Tuesday’s fingerprinting session was a crowd pleaser, but Knaby also added, “I liked learning about the luminol and how it brings out blood and makes it shine, even if it’s been cleaned up.”

Knaby signed up for the camp because forensics sounded interesting to him, and similarly, Santos read a book about detectives that piqued her interest in the camp.

Taylor’s cousin works for the GBI, which led to her interest in the camp. She said, “He talks about his job all the time, and it’s really cool what he talks about, so I was interested in the camp.”

Wood wanted to attend the camp because, “Being in 4-H and being involved, I’m trying to do everything and learn everything I can before I grow up, just to have the experience and if I ever have backup jobs.”

With forensics being such a sizable topic, Cunningham had to pick and choose what to include in the short three-day camp. If the camp returns next summer, she has plenty of fresh material to cover.