Each year, Plainedge School District sends three teams of 15 students to participate in a CSI Challenge. This year’s story was called “The Secret Ingredient” and centered on a murdered chef who was part of the fictitious World’s Best Chef Competition. Students compete by compiling evidence and conducting scientific analysis in anthropology, odontology, toxicology, entomology, ballistics, soil analysis, blood typing, chromatography, handwriting analysis, fingerprinting, computer forensics and footprint casting.
One of the teams placed second overall and won Best Crime Scene Management, Best Evidence Collection and Best Interviewer/Interrogator.
“We start preparing in October,” coach Maureen Chiolo said. “I choose the teams based on student coursework, leadership potential, teamwork ability, reliability, maturity and interest.”
There were 33 total teams from approximately 20 districts who competed across Long Island.
