Crime investigators have been called to the scene of a burglary where Mr. Smith recently came home to find someone robbing his apartment. Small blood-stained pieces of clothing have been taken back to the forensics lab. It appears the suspect cut himself on a broken glass door in haste to get away.

The crime investigators use anti-serums to test the blood samples of four suspects, apprehended by police, as they try to match blood type with the guilty party.

This is not a popular crime television show; it’s a science classroom at Eden Valley-Watkins High School and the scientists are junior high students in an after-school program who are putting classroom learning to practical use.

“It was awesome to be an investigator,” ninth-grader Zach Ludwig said.

EV-W and Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City are two of eight area districts served by PACT4 Families Collaborative to be named 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Each district receives a federal grant to establish after-school programming.

The three main objectives of the grant are to increase academic achievement, school connectedness and the capacity of the students to become productive adults, PACT4 21st Century director Sally Belgum-Blad said. The intent is to take what happens in the classroom and make it fun outside the school setting.

“Every school has been able to tailor the grant to fit the real needs of their students,” Belgum-Blad said.

Read more about the programs in the Feb. 21 Independent Review.