Winthrop High School’s science department used to offer a forensic science class, but it was cancelled a few years ago. Why was it removed? Was it because of a lack of interest? Was it because of a lack of funding? Here, we find out more about this class and why it is no longer an elective at Winthrop.
Forensic Science, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is “the use of scientific methods or expertise to investigate crimes or examine evidence that might be presented in a court of law”.
This sounds like something that would be interesting to learn at school! So why don’t we teach it anymore? I caught up with Mr. Brett Davis to find out.
My initial idea was to find out why the class is not offered anymore and if there was a chance it could come back to WHS.
When asked about why forensic science is no longer a class, Mr. Davis clarified that the reason that the elective is no longer offered is not because of a lack of funding OR a lack of interest, it was because the school was prioritizing other electives.
“The reason we stopped forensics was because we prioritize other electives and started doing those instead,” he said.
I also discovered that in addition to this, other classes at WHS teach some of the same elements of forensics!
“The majority of forensics is based on DNA and students interested in that can take AP bio and learn about biotechnology,” Mr. Davis stated.
So, for forensics fans, there is good news and bad news! According to Mr. Davis, the chance of forensics being re-added to the schedule is “really unlikely”, but, if you are interested in forensics, you can learn some of the elements of the class in AP bio!
