The Griffin Technical College SkillsUSA Crime Scene Investigation Team of Kathy Crabtree, of Fayette County, Tracy Maddox, and Ashley Schaffer won the gold medal in the national SkillsUSA competition held June 23-27, 2008 in Kansas City, Missouri.

In order to advance to the national competition, the team first won gold at the state competition where they competed against other postsecondary students in Georgia.

For the Crime Scene Investigation competition at the national level, contestants were directed to the crime scene and briefed as to the situation. The contestants, as a three-person team, processed the crime scene. They legally searched for, properly collected and removed evidence of the crime. One member of the team was required to lift a latent fingerprint from a pre-selected item of evidence. After the scene has been processed, the contestants wrote their report, drew the crime scene sketch and marked their evidence. 

Dr. Robert Arnold, president of Griffin Technical College, stated, “We are proud to have these ladies represent Griffin Technical College as a member of the SkillsUSA organization. I personally congratulate them on receiving this coveted Gold Medal, achieving their goals, and representing Griffin Technical College in this competition.” 

Diana Kendrick, SkillsUSA advisor stated, “We applaud all of the SkillsUSA students who choose to take on the extra challenge of competition. Their hard work, attention to detail and exceptional performance will carry them forward into rewarding careers.”

The SkillsUSA Championships is the national-level competition for public high school and college/postsecondary technical students enrolled in trade, technical, and skilled service profession instructional programs including allied health occupations. SkillsUSA organizes this event, and it is considered the single greatest day of industry volunteerism in America every year at an estimated cost of more than $30 million. Each SkillsUSA Championships contestant is a state-level gold medalist.

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