Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia students are getting a rare opportunity to train with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington Field Office.
It's a part of a Future Agents in Training program that gives high school students a behind-the-scenes look at the FBI.
Robert Farris, a rising senior at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Fairfax County, has never put on an FBI bomb squad uniform before.
“Is there a preferred collegiate path to take to become a bomb tech?” Farris asked.
He is one of the dozens getting an up close and personal experience this summer in the program.
“We bring in teenagers, kids that have an interest in being part of the FBI," said Steven M. D'antuono, Washington Field Office Assistant Director in Charge.
The teen academy gives high school students a unique perspective on the FBI during a fast-paced two-day event where students learn about terrorism, cybercrime, public corruption, polygraph exams, evidence response, SWAT, and the day-to-day operations of a typical FBI office.
“It’s important for the community to know who is the FBI, what makes us up?" D'antuono explained. "A lot of that has been called into question lately but it’s about learning what the FBI does and why we do things a certain way."
Only a handful of applicants are selected, this year it’s the most applicants they have ever had.
“I originally didn’t get accepted because they weren’t going to have this one, but I am so excited to be accepted,” said Shannon Ashby, a student at Lake Braddock Secondary School.
Special agents, intelligence analysts, language specialists, and professional staff also teach students about investigative tactics that include gathering evidence, interviewing witnesses and assisting with cases.
“We have done everything from hands one work, footprints, classroom work, learning about opioids, we finished up on gangs, MS-13," Farris explained. "It's something I never thought I would see from an outside perspective and as somebody so young."