May - To wrap up our study of World War I, and the two decades that followed, students created a timeline in a project called "The Road to War". Most of the month was spent examining how the end of World War I and the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles created an unstable Europe headed down the road to war. Additional topics included the failure of the League of Nations, The Great Depression, and the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. For the project students were asked to compile a list of six events for their timeline and provide a description detailing how each contributed to the start of World War II. |
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May - Crime scene investigation was one of the most memorable parts of this semesters vis it to the Kansas City Missouri Police Academy. While at the academy students learned about the various search patterns used when canvassing a crime scene and the types of things investigators focus on when searching
a scene. In May the class had the opportunity to search a mock crime scene set up in the classroom and then pursue leads based on the evidence their investigation uncovered. In our scenario the students were given a 50 minute class period to pursue leads and locate a device before time ran out. Working together they were able to put together evidence from the crime scene and clues from suspects to locate the device within the targeted amount of time.
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April - Students visited the Kansas City Missouri Regional Police Academy. The academy's primary purpose is to train officers for the Kansas City Missouri Police Department but it also accepts new hires from regional departments. The training consists of over 900 hours and lasts approximatly 7 months. Recruits are trained in various aspects of police work and complete a 6 month field training period before their initial training is complete. The visit included a tour of the main campus as well as a visit to the range, a simulated crime scene sweep and a visit to the VirTra (virtual shooter trainer) trainer. Image descriptions (1) sweeping the crime scene (2) visiting the range (3) collecting evidence (4) visiting the TV studio (5) visiting the officer memorial (6) Sgt. Eckert lecturing about technology (7) a recruiting class learning defensive tactics.


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March - The focus for most of the third quarter in criminal justice was the profession of law enforcement. Students studied the hiring and training process at both the federal and local levels and examined some of the challenges a career in law enforcement presents. The third quarter criminal justice final was project based and designed by each student according to their interest. Once students determined a topic they conducted research, prepared a presentation and then wrote a letter to an individual in the field who could provide insight and answer questions about their topic.. All students were required to give a 5 min presentation on their topic (pictured) to both show what they had learned through their research and to educate their classmates.
In addition to the third quarter final students also recently completed a research project using statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigations annual Unified Crime Report and the U.S. Census. They examined Kansas crime statistics for each county and then looked for a corralation between the number or types of crimes committed and a census statistic such as poverty rate or education level. They used this information to test a hypothesis about what they believed may be true with regard to crime and poverty, education, income, etc... Example of findings pictured.
FBI Uniform Crime Report
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March -
World history students ended the third quarter learning about the
three Muslim "gunpowder empires" that once controlled large portions of Southeastern Europe, North Africa, Persia and the Indian subcontinent. Our studies covered a large expanse of time f rom the 13th century well into the 20th. The Ottoman, Safavid and Mogul Empires shaped this region of the world for centuries and established many Muslim traditions that exist to this day. Our study of the Mogul Empires rule in India included an examination of their fall and the rise of the British Raj which covered several centuries and culminated in the Indian independence movement. No study of Indian independence would be complete without discussing Mohandas Gandhi. As students spent the final days of the quarter preparing for their final the class viewed the 1982 Oscar winning film "Gh andi" and completed several in-class activites (example attached below). Follow this link for parent review of the film link.
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USO - Operation Care Package |
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January - Freshman world history student Collin Sechrist shared pictures and newspaper clippings of his great uncle Robert. Robert served in the 101'st Airborne Division during WWII. He was a member of the Pathfinder Airborne unit that made the first jumps into France on D-Day. They established jump targets and prepared landing zones for the bulk of the allied airborne forces to follow. Robert also fought side by side with the the men of Easy Company who were imortalized in the famous mini-series "Band of Brothers".

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November - Criminal Justice students visited the Wyandotte County Sheriff's Office and the Olathe Police Department. The class had the opportunity to discuss emergency management with Sheriff Don Ash and Fire Chief Jon Paul Jones and explore a police cruiser, equipped with automated plate recognition technology, at the Olathe police department.
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February - Criminal Justice students are researching the impact legalization of drugs would have on society and the criminal justice system. Following a class discussion of the possible consequences students were asked to consider their personal view on the issue. The class was then divided into for and against groups and the research phase of the project began. Each group was asked to compose a research paper and multimedia presentation. After presenting these items to the class a debate was held to give each side a chance to address the arguments of the opposition.
 
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November - The Criminal Justice class underwent a series of tests designed to parallel those completed by individuals entering a police academy. The test included both physical (below) and written (POST Exam).
Test 1
http://youtu.be/1mF-9vUgpkU
Test 2
http://youtu.be/dyMn7NKEe2w
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December - The criminal justice class had a visit from 2010 BSHS graduate Jacob Slattery . Slattery, now a military police officer, discussed life in the military and the role of MP's in the Army. Slattery is currently stationed at Ft. Polk, Louisiana and has been told a deployment to Afghanistan is likely in 2013.


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