Rosie Wigington

Welcome to one of the newest career education pathways offered at Pickens High School. This pathway will prepare students for exciting career opportunities in criminal justice, law enforcement, the fire – rescue services, emergency medical services, corrections and security fields. The pathway is broken into three separate courses as described below.

INTRODUCTION TO LAW, CORRECTIONS & SECURITY

Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security (LPSCS) is the pre-requisite for all other courses within the pathway. This course provides students with career-focused educational opportunities in various LPSCS fields. It examines the basic concepts of law related to citizens’ rights and the responsibilities, and students will receive instruction in critical skill areas including: communicating with diverse groups, conflict resolution, ethics, CERT Training (Citizens Emergency Response Team), basic firefighting, report writing, terrorism, civil and criminal law. Career planning and employability skills will be emphasized. Students completing this course will have an opportunity to participate in the Pickens County CERT program which is administered by the Pickens County Emergency Management & Homeland Security Agency.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ESSENTIALS

Criminal Justice Essentials provides an overview of the criminal justice system. Starting with historical perspectives of the origin of the system, the course reviews the overall structure. Students will become immersed in criminal and constitutional law and will review basic law enforcement skills. The course ends with a mock trial to provide participants with a first-hand experience of the criminal justice system. The course will also provide in-depth competencies and components for the co-curricular SkillsUSA student organization that are incorporated throughout instructional strategies of the course. Participation in additional student organizations that align with Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security pathways (i.e. mock trial) is encouraged to enhance standards addressed in the curriculum. The prerequisite for this course is Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security.

CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

This course is designed to provide students with an opportunity to explore the basic processes and principles of a criminal investigation. Students will learn the legal responsibilities and challenges of the patrol officer, investigator, and crime scene technician at a crime scene. Students will learn the importance of preserving and documenting the crime scene along with the identification, collection, and processing of evidence and the contribution to the criminal investigation. The prerequisites for this course are Introduction to Law, Public Safety, Corrections and Security, and Criminal Justice Essentials.

ABOUT MRS. WIGINGTON

I am very excited to be working with students in the Law, Public Safety, Corrections, and Security Pathway. I am an alumnus of Pickens High School and I have been on the faculty here for more than 20 years. During that time, I have taught Civics, Geography, World History, US History, AP European History and Criminal Justice. I have my Bachelors degree from Carson-Newman College, my Masters and Educational Specialist degrees from Piedmont College specializing Teacher Leadership. I am an American Red Cross CPR and First Aid Instructor, Stop-the-Bleed Instructor, State of Georgia Certified Rescue Specialist and a federally certified CERT Instructor.

My husband Allen, who is the elected Chief Magistrate Judge for Pickens County, and I have two children, one who is a freshman at PHS, and another who is in 7th grade at PJHS. We are members of Jasper United Methodist Church. An interesting factoid about me: I am a Star Wars fanatic and I love to travel with my family to Walt Disney World and to help celebrate my step-dad's 80th birthday, we took a skydiving trip!