AIKEN --- In just three years, Brad Wilson has taken the Aiken County Career and Technology Center's criminal justice program from a startup to an award-winning team.
Three of Mr. Wilson's students -- Josh Tuper and Rob Lowe of Midland Valley High School, and Ryan Pendegraph of Silver Bluff High School -- won the Skills USA national title in crime scene investigations last week in Kansas City, Mo.
"When I started I knew I wanted to win nationals; I just didn't know it would happen this quick," Mr. Wilson said.
The teens processed a 2-day-old robbery scene, which included taking fingerprints and naming a suspect. The team earned 849 out of 1,000 points to defeat 33 other teams. It also passed two written tests to earn the title.
Mr. Pendegraph, who was the lead investigator at nationals, said he got interested in the program as a sophomore.
"I was tired of going to school all day, every day and they told me all the things they planned on doing, and it sounded amazing," he said.
When processing crime scenes this past year with the city, Mr. Wilson began noticing students' strengths and created competition teams based on the work.
"It's like what you see on CSI, but we don't have all the high-tech equipment," he said. "It's more like old-school CSI."
Teams have one hour to collect evidence, take photos, create sketches of the scene, pull fingerprints and write a report.
Heading into the competition, Mr. Pendegraph said he didn't feel as prepared as he did for state because the team hadn't been practicing three to four times a week. But it all clicked again.
"When we got in there, it was like riding a bike because all this stuff had been drilled into our heads," he said.
Mr. Wilson joined the career center team when Director Pat O'Neill took over three years ago. They brought in Aiken Public Safety to work with students.
Since the program began working with the city of Aiken, at least one student has become a public safety cadet. There's a waiting list to join.
The win comes with a $25,000 scholarship to Brown Mackie College, which has campuses in Greenville and Atlanta.
All three students plan to pursue a career in criminal justice, Mr. Wilson said. Mr. Tuper joined the Army this week and wants to join the military police. Mr. Pendegraph would like to work in public safety and plans to attend Aiken Technical College or Brown Mackie, and Mr. Lowe, a senior, plans to become a lawyer.
Next year, the program will offer an emergency medical services program. Mr. O'Neill said he foresees it expanding to offer a fire program and becoming a full-service public safety program.
Reach Julia Sellers at (706) 823-3424 or julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
