Without missing a beat, Barbara Goleman Senior High School has celebrated the accomplishments of its 2015 graduating class while simultaneously planning for the future. As the first graduating Capstone class left the halls of Goleman for higher education, for 2015-2016 new students will be entering into a new magnet program called the National Security Intelligence Academy (NSI). The NSI Academy is also referred to as The Law Enforcement and Intelligence Studies Magnet.
This one-of-a-kind magnet program was specially designed at Goleman and the only magnet affiliated with the Florida Bureau of Investigation, Miami Division in Miami-Dade County. The academy has two strands: The Law Enforcement and Intelligence strand and Forensic Science.
Magnet academy leader for the NSI program and Command and Tactical Operations Center Specialist (CTOC) Peter Falcon, has been teaching for 23 years and has been working with the FBI, Miami Division, for 25 years. Falcon, along with the administration at Goleman, have worked to create the magnet as a place for any student interested in law enforcement and forensic science to learn from specialists and apply academic studies into real life scenarios. The magnet will facilitate entry into various law enforcement careers.
“This program is both for students who are college bound and for those who are interested in pursuing other avenues of law enforcement, like the police academy following graduation,” said Falcon. “For me, it’s exciting because I am combining 23 years of teaching and 25 years with the FBI, Miami Division to do this program. This magnet is really for any student interested in starting a career in law enforcement.”
Students enrolled in the Law Enforcement/Intelligence Studies (NSI) Magnet will increase their knowledge of the challenges facing the United States and the world in the coming decades, including issues such as domestic and international terrorism, transitional crime, climate change, food, and health security.
Thesis-based research, seminars, field trips, workshops and simulations conducted by local and federal law enforcement agencies will be commonplace within the program. Additionally, students will study the historical development of the U.S. democracy and the institution of law, examining policing, courts, and corrections as separate entities that work together to control crime. They will evaluate how policy implications shape legislative decision-making, procedures, and treatment modalities offered to offenders.
For the Forensic Science strand, students will learn to gather and analyze evidence found, solve crimes using genetics, biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and psychology, and learn the techniques in securing, searching, and examining evidence.
The magnet will also feature a Police Explorers program, a youth organization hosted by the Miami-Dade Schools Police Department (MDSPD) to educate the student explorers in the area of law enforcement.
Some courses available within the magnet are comprehensive law, international relations, introduction to homeland security, and program highlights include labs, seminars and field trips in conjunction with the FBI, Miami Division, model united nations simulations, internship placement, and crime scene investigation among others.
Collaborating partners with the program are FBI, Miami Division, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Miami-Dade Police Department, Miami-Dade Schools Police Department, and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) Teachers Law School.
“This isn’t a club,” said school principal, Joaquin Hernandez. “This is an entire magnet that is essentially being led and taught by the same personnel that will be accepting employees like special agents, attorneys, accountants, and law enforcement personnel in the future.”
Applications are currently being accepted for the program though spaces are rapidly filling. Additional information for applications can be obtained at the school, 14100 N.W. 89 Avenue in Miami Lakes. To be eligible, students must have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher in core academic subjects, a minimum of 2.0 in conduct, and no more than 10 unexcused absences. After applications are received a computerized random selection process is used for student selection among those who are eligible.
For more information call 305-362-0676.