CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — Dozens of high school students from around north central West Virginia visited the FBI on Tuesday to attend the bureau’s Teen Academy.

Teen Academy is a program held by the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) which allows high school students to experience a day inside the FBI.

“Our hope is they come here, they go through, and they get to hear from different people within CJIS, that this might be something that they want to do down the road. One, keep them home, keep them local and you know get into a profession that you’re helping to serve others and you’re helping to keep our county safe,”  Section Chief of the Law Enforcement Support Section Scott Schubert said.

While inside the FBI’s campus, students received demonstrations on things like firearms simulation and crime scene response, IT and the K-9 Unit. When asked about her favorite part of the day, Arrington Sparks, a student at Phillip-Barbour High School, struggled to pick just one.

“Oh my goodness, everything. Everything has been super informative. I really like listening to everybody talk, but I also like the hands-on activities we’ve done. So, I don’t really have a favorite,” said Sparks.  

The students who attended Tuesday’s event can now say that they have officially graduated from the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division Teen Academy.