Henley senior teaches forensics to middle school students

Jan. 22, 2025 / Henley Middle School students last week used forensic science techniques to analyze a fake crime scene and solve a mock murder mystery thanks to Henley High senior Izzy Gollihar.

Gollihar taught a one-week forensics unit to David Graham’s Medical Detective class as part of her senior engineering project. On the first day, students walked into a “crime scene” and spent the following days applying evidence-based science methods to identify the murderer. Gollihar set up the scene using Halloween decorations, a chalk outline of a body, fake blood, evidence markers, weapons, notes, and four suspect profiles.

The students’ first task was to sketch the scene and catalog the evidence. They learned about evidence gathering, ink and blood testing, and dusting for and identifying fingerprints.

For Gollihar, teaching the unit was an opportunity to share her passion. Her career goal is to work in forensic science within law enforcement after earning a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in forensic science.

On Thursday (Jan. 16), students dusted a cup left at the scene to lift fingerprints, comparing them to prints from the four suspects. On Friday, they worked on identifying fake blood samples from the scene.

Seventh-graders Abby Poore and Harper Wood teamed up to solve the mystery. They carefully transferred the fingerprints they lifted onto evidence sheets, comparing them with those from the suspects.

“I’ve always been interested in this, and I was really excited about it,” Abby said. “We’re not 100% sure, but we have an idea based on the fingerprints and other evidence.”

The identity of the murderer was revealed on Monday, after a week-long analysis of the evidence.

Gollihar, who became interested in crime scene investigation during her sophomore year after her chemistry teacher taught a forensic science unit, said it was rewarding to share these skills with younger students.

“I came up with this idea because of what I want to do in the future,” she said. “I’ve always been interested in science, chemistry, law enforcement, and crime.”

David Graham, who teaches a variety of courses including introductory engineering design, design and modeling, medical detectives, and robotics at the middle school, easily incorporated Gollihar’s forensics unit into the Medical Detectives class. This class, which focuses on disease diagnosis, used a simulated outbreak as a model to learn about bacteria and viruses.

“With Izzy’s forensics unit, we were able to expand upon the course material,” Graham said.