It has been a busy year for Shay Dowell, a criminal justice student here at Vol State. In April, she competed in Chattanooga at the SkillsUSA State Leadership & Skills Competition, where she won a Gold Medal. Two months later, Shay went to Atlanta for the national SkillsUSA competition and finished eighth in the nation.
Students from Vol State traveled to London in May 2024 for a study abroad course. This experience allowed students to see how law enforcement and the common law system originated. The United States criminal justice system is based on the blueprint England provided.
Criminal Justice students from Volunteer State Community College took top honors at the 2023 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference.
Vol State students Nicole Fowler, Jasmine Harrison, and Sarai Edwards received Gold for Crime Scene Investigation. Vol State student Hussein Alhawamdeh won Silver in the Criminal Justice section. SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization. The purpose is to increase professionalism in the work field through student training; student sessions with potential employers; competitions in educational areas; and scholarships.
The Criminal Justice Competition at Volunteer State Community College has been an ongoing community outreach program for the last four years. In February 2023, the competition involved eight local high schools, one college, ten law enforcement agencies, and several non-law enforcement agencies. The event brought over 50 professionals in contact with over 200 criminal justice students. Over thirty middle-college students helped with being role players. The event serves several purposes.
Vol State hosted a criminal justice competition for our students today and included many area high school students. All are showcasing their law enforcement skills as they work towards becoming law enforcement professionals. We appreciate our area law enforcement from Davidson, Sumner, and Robertson Counties who joined us to help train students involved in Skills USA as well as those enrolled in programs at area high schools.
Criminal Justice students from Volunteer State Community College took top honors in the 2021 SkillsUSA national competition recently. Nicole Fowler of Gallatin, Lesly Nunez of Hendersonville, and Wendy Sturgill of Westmoreland received Gold for Crime Scene Investigation. Sydney Mattern of Nashville won Gold in the Criminal Justice section. SkillsUSA is a career and technical student organization. The purpose is to increase professionalism in the work field through student training; student sessions with potential employers; competitions in educational areas; and scholarships.
Criminal Justice students from Volunteer State Community College took top awards in two categories in a statewide SkillsUSA competition held recently in a virtual format. Lesly Rios Nunez of Hendersonville and Nicole Fowler of Gallatin took first place in Crime Scene Investigation. Sydney Mattern of Nashville won in the Criminal Justice competition. They prepped for the tournament with the help of assistant chief Tim Anschuetz of the Vol State Campus Police.
Planning a crime isn’t easy. There is plenty to consider. Metro Nashville Police Lieutenant Frank Ragains is an instructor at Volunteer State Community College. He designs mock crime scenes so that students can collect evidence and document the scene with a critical eye. Effective evidence processing is important in a criminal investigation. Mishandled evidence could be lost or found inadmissible in court. Vol State students now have more room, and more time, to investigate mock crime scenes thanks to a new Criminal Justice lab building at the college.
