TEENA CALKIN

Criminal Justice & Law Enforcement

Homeroom: Room 219

Phone: (907) 742-8900

Welcome This class is the pathway to the criminal justice system. If you are interested in a career in security, law enforcement, law or corrections, to include forensics, this is the class for you. Follow us on Instagram: kths_criminaljustice Follow us on Twitter: @KTHSCriminalJustice Class description: This class explores careers in all three of the criminal justice components - Law Enforcement, Courts and Corrections. Along the way, we will investigate a mock crime and by the end of the semester, we go to the Anchorage Superior Court where students answer questions from a Judge, Prosecutor and Defense Attorney about their investigation. By the end of the semester, you will have a clear understanding of how the criminal justice system works, how a defendant moves through the system and what careers are available throughout the system. In addition, you will learn what it takes to enter into a potential career in criminal justice. Field trips and guest speakers are an integral part of this course and vary based on student interest and availability of the professionals. We will also explore employment opportunities available to you following high school graduation as well as scholarship opportunities in addition to exploring what further training or education might be needed for certain professions. At the end of this course, you will be certified in CPR/1st Aid/AED. This class requires 20 hours of community work service through various organizations of your choice and/or class community service projects such as the Smiles for a Child toy drive program or K9 fundraising. This is a fast-paced challenging course that follows a similar path along the Intro to Justice course offered at University of Alaska Fairbanks. To obtain college credit for the course, students must earn a B or better at the end of the course and pay $25 per credit ($75 for the class). This credit can be transferred to any accredited college accepting UAF credits. This is a great stepping stone to college, military or the work world. Second semester students MUST be interested in a career in law enforcement and have the appropriate background to enter the class. We aren't looking for perfection, but young people who are honest and working toward becoming better people. This class will be run similar to a police academy in that students will do physical fitness for 30 minutes 4 days a week, 30 minutes of academics and 30 minutes of hands on training with 15 minutes of prep time on either side of class. You MUST complete the Criminal Justice class with a B or better and have the instructor's recommnedation. This class is only offered in January of each school year. Uniforms are provided but students must bring their own gym clothes. Students will have the opportunity to use state of the art equipment such as a Use of Force Simulator. This class exposes students to real-life criminal justice situations, information and demonstrations. Video exposure to blood, accident scenes, officer shootings and other real-life criminal justice events are abundant throughout this course and something for parents to consider prior to their student signing up. Parents should read the class syllabus closely for more information. Thanks to our official and unofficial business partners: Alaska Department of Corrections, Anchorage Police Department, UAA Police Department, Anchorage Airport Police & Fire, Anchorage District Attorney's Office, Alaska Court System, State of Alaska Division of Homeland Security, US Department of Homeland Security (TSA, PSA and many more), Alaska State Troopers, Alaska Peace Officer's Association, and the many federal law enforcement agencies and the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory that provide us with guest speakers that add so much value to this course. A very special thank you to Judge Eric Aarseth who volunteers 6 hours a year to open his courtroom to this class and it's students to help them understand the importance of police work, ethics, law and courtroom procedure. Students attending KTHS in the Criminal Justice program sometime within the school year will have the opportunity to participate in one of 2 categories of Skills USA through an after school program: Crime Scene Investigation & Criminal Justice. This will require regular meetings, training with professionals and a desire to compete on the local, state and national levels. If these students achieve success at the local and state level, they will have the opportunity to attend national competition in Louisville, KY. Fundraising would be a requirement for travel. In 2015, the Alaska Skills Crime Scene Investigation team won 2nd in the Nation out of 31 teams; come create another winning team with Mrs. Calkin. Since our first year, we have been top 10 in both categories most if not all years. Join this incredible training opportunity for your best start to a career in criminal justice.