Students bring forensics to Jamestown Colony

A group of Thurston Middle School students spent a recent Friday morning searching the campus for body parts and weapons.

The eighth-graders from Kelly Skon’s science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) course had their crime scene investigator hats on for the unusual assignment, which was designed to combine forensics skills with history and even the legal system.

The activity is a collaboration between Skon and U.S. history teacher Michelle Martinez.

The students started with a storyline: Pocahontas was digging in the garden and spotted a jawbone. John Smith, an English explorer, soldier and author noted for his contributions to the Jamestown Colony, is suspected of murder and has been extradited to American soil.

The students dug in search of evidence, first finding a hand, then an arm and finally a skull and legs — plastic versions, like those found in a biology class. They laid the body, which included a severed right arm, on a piece of tarp, brushing away the dirt.

Meanwhile, at another site, a group of four students searched for a possible weapon. They unearthed an arrow.

Students at the third site found a skull with a puncture wound.

Trowels and brushes were plentiful. Each student had a specific role, whether taking notes, shooting photos, or digging for bones.

Next week students will analyze bones to determine the cause of death, Skon said. Then, the prosecution will build a case against Smith for a mock trial set for May.

In preparation, students auditioned for judge and attorney positions in December, while Skon and Martinez randomly summoned 40 eighth-graders for jury duty. A 14-student jury was chosen.

“They had to report at lunch, and failure to report could result in a detention,” Skon said.

Thomas Keeling, 13, said the course is unlike any he has taken.

“It’s a bit of a new form of learning,” Thomas said. “I’m more of an engineering and technology guy, but if kids are allowed to experience things like this, it gives them a wider field of vision into what they want to do.”

Martinez, social studies department chairwoman, said students participated in a similar exercise last year, and teachers are considering conducting an exercise based on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln next year.

Martinez’s daughter, Noelle Martinez, a 2012 Laguna Beach High graduate who is currently a junior at Baylor University studying forensic anthropology, shared her knowledge by teaching a class and designing lessons.

“I’ve looked to see if anyone else has done something like this and haven’t found any,” Michelle Martinez said.