Young Detectives Crack the Case at CGM's Science Club

Science Club, a mentorship program initiated by CGM with the Boys & Girls Club of Chicago, has completed its third quarter, this time with a focus on forensic science.

For the past 10 weeks, middle school members of the Robert R. McCormick Boys & Girls Club of Chicago worked to crack the case of their site director Mike Anderson's "stolen" backpack. The junior detectives used fingerprint, fiber, and hair analysis, paper chromatography, and even DNA testing to whittle down a list of four possible "suspects," including Mike Kennedy and Carolyn Jahn, CGM faculty who lead the initiative. NU student and staff mentors Miranda Bernhardt, Simone Boyle, Rebecca Daugherty, Unmesh Jadhav, Maggie Jahn, Alan Lewis, Julia MacKenzie, Laura Moore, La Nee, Lauren Strelec, Athena Samaras, Sarah Umetsu, and Maggie Walker guided club members through each activity in small groups.

The investigation culminated with a trial last week in the Parillo Courtroom at NU's law school, complete with guest "judge" Rabiah Mayas, who leads the city-wide Science Chicago initiative. Club members presented their findings, successfully pinpointing Kennedy as the culprit. The event ended with a pizza party (and no arrests).

Science Club was started in the spring of 2008 by Kennedy and Jahn as a pilot project. The program has become a fixture at the McCormick Club, now reaching more than thirty members. The club was designed to engage middle school students in science through fun, hands-on activities led by real scientists-in-training. Future plans for the initiative include further growth at the McCormick site as well as expansion to other Chicago-area BGC sites. For more information about Science Club, please click here.