PLEASANTVILLE – Blood spatter analysis, footprint and bite mark impressions, drug testing, hair and fiber analysis and fingerprinting are just some of the topics explored in an elective course being offered at Pleasantville High School, now in its second year.

Taught by Darlyne de Haan, a former state forensic scientist, the course is aimed at providing students with an introduction into forensic science as a career track.

“This is a huge, growing field,” de Haan said. “It’s a comprehensive science. There are all sorts of options besides traditional law enforcement: psychology for profiling, statistics and forensic accounting.”

De Haan worked for six years at a facility in Hammonton in forensic serology – the detection, classification and study of bodily fluids and their relationship to a crime scene. “Then I got the teaching bug and went back to school,” she said. Hired by the district initially to teach math, she wrote the curriculum for the course and is planning to offer Forensic Science II next term for students who want to study the topic further.

“I had several students who were not interested in going to college when they entered the class, but now have found something they want to do and are planning on attending college now,” she said.

On Tuesday morning, Jan. 10 the students were working on footprint analysis. Large sheets of paper were laid on the floor of the science room and covered with a pile of moist potting soil. One student from each group was asked to use their shoe to make an impression on the dirt to create the “evidence.”

The students measured the footprints from the heel, the instep and the ball of the foot. They also recorded the length. Using a Traxtone casting kit containing a dental stone material that produces highly detailed impressions with a minimum of setting time, the groups then poured the cement-like substance over the footprints.

“This is exactly how they do it in the field,” de Haan said. The students planned to remove the impression the next day in class, after giving it time to cure.

On Jan. 25, the class is taking a field trip to New York City to visit Discovery Times Square’s CSI: The Experience, where they can play the role of a crime scene investigator in one of three crime scenes.

The culminating activity of the class is a staged crime scene in which the students will analyze clues using all of the techniques they have learned to uncover what took place.

According to Assistant Superintendent Effie Jenkins-Smith, the class benefits from de Haan’s experience.

“She’s a fantastic teacher, a true scientist,” she said. “She brings so much to the classroom, all of her practical experiences. It gets the kids hands-on and engaged.”

The heightened awareness through television programs has led the students to consider the field as a career option, she said.

“There is a heightened awareness for sure, and through this class they can see what it is like to do that job.”