Tag: Mock Trial

The End of Another Era

A Twenty Year Journey

Twenty years ago I started a journey as the WHCS Government Club Advisor. Like so many adventures, it started small, without a full understanding of where the adventure would lead, or how long it would last.

That first year we had six members on our first (of 43) Judicial teams. Between then and now I’ve taken as few as six students to Judicial, and as many as 21 (the one year we had three teams and three judges). And I have taken as few as three students to Youth Legislature, and as many as twelve. All told I accompanied over 200 students and dozens of adults to 21 Judicial competitions and 20 Legislative conferences.

The Many Hats I Wore

Throughout that time I wore many hats, including Mom, Advisor, Coach, Team Mom, Driver, and Nurse. There were good times and not so good times, but overall it was an amazing experience and a journey that I am very thankful to have taken.  I have been able to have a role (ranging from quite small to decently large) in the lives of some amazing teenagers throughout those years. I have laughed with them and cried with them, I have coached them, I have mentored them, and I have taught them. But I have also learned from them and with them.

Together We Traveled

We have traipsed across the state together, on dozens of trips to and from Anniston, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery. I have accompanied students to national events in Virginia and Oklahoma and on numerous field trips to Virginia and D.C. – where together we added to our knowledge of history, government, and Shakespeare.

Amazing Students

Throughout it all, my heart has been blessed by the wisdom and understanding of so many of these students.  Without all of this in my life during the last two decades I would have saved some time, saved some money, and missed out on so much more.

Thank You to the Helpful Adults!

And I certainly have not done this alone. Throughout all of this there have been countless adults who joined me on one or more of these endless trips – helping me with the driving, the chaperoning, the coaching, the meal purchasing and meal preparation (especially when we had the choice of NOT buying meal tickets!), and so much more. I would love to thank all the various folks who helped along the way, but I know if I start listing names, I would miss someone and that would make me sad. So I will cheat with a blanket “thank you so much” to those who have assisted, and assume you each know I mean you!

My Last Youth Legislature

This past weekend, twenty years since the beginning of all this, I took my final six students to our last Legislative event. It was a bittersweet feeling. I knew the end was approaching. I had already passed the reins of Judicial on to two family members after our competition last fall. And I knew that Youth Leg couldn’t be far behind. But it wasn’t until we were at least half way through the weekend that I realized that this one was, indeed, to be my last official event. It wasn’t anything big that told me that, it was more the little things – the food I shouldn’t be eating with my recent diagnosis of diabetes, but that I was paying for regardless; the frustration of knowing that yet again my students had written bills that wouldn’t be debated; and then the aggravation of watching them try, again and again, to participate in the debate, while being shut out.

Frustrations Over Benefits

I’ve always said that as long as the benefits of participating outweighed the frustrations being caused, we could justify our continued participation. But this weekend, at least where Youth Legislature was concerned, the scales finally tipped. We had become spectators at an event that spoke of the value of participation. We had been shut off as having opinions no one wanted to hear. Bill after bill came to the floor where a small variety of speakers stood time and again to praise their merits. But no one wanted to hear another side. True debate was shut out as the student leadership doggedly avoided calling on anyone who might stir up controversy. It was as if they were afraid of actually having to think.

Who Us? Listen to You?

We had seen the start of a trend that direction the previous year, when my students did much more watching than participating. But this year the trend blossomed into a full-blown attack. Not only were my students not allowed to speak, they were indirectly mocked by more than one speaker who felt it necessary to criticize all who could even think of speaking against such a marvelous bill as this one or that one.  It was tragic to see what this once great program had become.

As we sat at dinner that last night discussing the high and low points for each of us from the weekend, I told my students that ultimately they were not the real losers this weekend. They had formulated their ideas, written up their arguments, and actually thought about what was right and wrong with the various bills they wanted to speak against.  It was the other students who would never hear those arguments that were the ones who had lost out. The ones who were convinced that everyone thought like them, that might honestly have believed that because no one got up and spoke against a bill, that there was no one there who disagreed with them – they were the ones who had missed out.

Youth in Government

The Alabama Youth in Government program has been a huge part of my life, my children’s lives, and countless of my students. It has given us much and taught us much. It is with a sad heart that I watch our participation in this portion of a once great program come to an end.

Happy learning!

Cathy

The End of an Era

Missed Deadline

As yesterday was coming to a close I realized I had missed my deadline – the deadline for this week’s blog post.

I won’t apologize. This was a deadline missed for good reasons – I was away for the previous four days with an amazing group of students, and frankly, writing was not high on my priority list.

But I am home, as they all are, and I will write the post today instead.

We’ve Come and Gone to Mock Trial

I also won’t apologize for the context of this post, a topic that I have addressed several times in the more or recent past, and that some of you may be tired of hearing.  But, if you have heard Mock Trial enough times from me to last you awhile, have no fear, it isn’t really the topic of this post, it is merely the context within which my post was born.

I spent this past weekend with twelve high school students, none of whom were biologically related to me (though one registered with my last name and I didn’t protest). I have known more than half of these students since before they were old enough to attend my Government Club or my classes, since they each had older siblings that were attending when they were still quite young. (And we’ve actually known several of these families since before those particular students were even born!) At the other end of the spectrum, I met one of the students less than three weeks ago, when she graciously agreed to fill our last spot for a competition that she knew little about.

Twenty-One Years as Government Club Advisor

This was my twenty-first year to be the advisor for the Way Home Christian School Government Club. It is also the last year I plan to coach Mock Trial (or Youth Judicial, as most others in Alabama refer to it). I knew that that day would come eventually, as my own children grew up, and as my life moved in other directions. But I didn’t realize how difficult it would be to give it up. I’ve taken more than forty teams to Montgomery during these last two decades, and somewhere between 100 and 200 students.  Some of those students came and went over a brief period of time, signing up for a team, spending their two weeks to two months practicing and then competing, and then disappearing again from my life, either of their own accord, or on a rare occasion, when I asked them not to return. (I can happily say that the latter was only the case in a handful of times.)

Most of the students I have taken to Montgomery over the years are now adults, many of them married, and some with children of their own, but the ones I took this weekend are not there yet. They ranged in age from 15 to 18, and from ninth grade to seniors.  I had gone into this fall knowing that I was passing the baton on after this year, and had prayed that God would give me “a good group of kids” for my last Mock Trial. He answered that prayer beyond what I could have even imagined.

Bringing Me to Tears

These kids brought me to tears (not a first for a Mock Trial weekend, sadly). But this was the first time that those were all tears of joy.  I cannot think of one time in the entire weekend that I was angry with any of them, or even slightly annoyed for that matter. In spite of room issues the first night, late nights all weekend, and last minute changes to their trial plans when both teams had their opening lawyers start a day not feeling well, they hung in there, worked together, and continued to do their best. One team even had to do more trials than they felt like they had agreed to (four is the promised number of trials, with some teams getting a fifth, and generally only the top two teams getting in a sixth trial). But this weekend they had the two expected trials on Saturday, followed by four in a row on Sunday (most likely a record!) They were tired, some of them were more than a little overwhelmed by the extra efforts required by the two extra trials, but they all gave it their best, complained very little, and kept going.

Mock Trial Craziness

This year’s twelve students included four who had never attended a Mock Trial competition (two of whom may never have even heard about it until less than a month ago!). But even the ones that have been several times often forget some of the craziness that goes on at these events. And in spite of all of our experience and efforts, there is always new craziness that we didn’t expect. (Wait, you want me to cross this over-the-top difficult witness, keep it under three minutes, and somehow not come across as “mean”? And you expect me to respond to an objection of “unfair impeachment” that I’ve never heard of, isn’t in our list of objections, and that opposing counsel can’t even tell me where came from? Sure, why not.)

Making Mistakes

Throughout our weeks of preparation I always encourage the students to do their best. But I also never wanted them to feel pushed too hard or stressed because of it. For us, this simply isn’t about winning, it’s about the joy of competing, learning something new, and hopefully growing in the process. I’ve never been angry with a witness who has forgotten their answers on the stand, even if it means an impeachment (or a series of leading questions), or a lawyer who missed an objection or made a bad one. We talk about the mistakes and hope they go into each consecutive trial feeling stronger and more prepared. And maybe that will show up on their score sheets. (But often not, through no fault of these students, but that’s an entirely different matter.)

Most Not Future Lawyers

Most of these students will never become lawyers. In fact, it is likely that many of them will never step into a court room again after these competitions. But they still gain so much from participating in this program. I’ve watched so many of them come of out their shells, honing their abilities to argue their points, and learning to think on their feet. And throughout it all I watch so many of them develop friendships that will move into their post-school years with them.  They often comfort others who have become overwhelmed or stressed, moving beyond just thinking about themselves.

An Enjoyable Weekend

I spent the weekend enjoying their company, enjoying their amazing performances, and being thankful, once again, that I had been granted the privilege of sharing this event with these and so many other students. As I pass the role of leading this group on to others, I have no regrets for all that doing this has cost me over the years, in lost sleep, time, or expenses. What more could a mother/coach/teacher/team mom want?

The Score Sheets Said What?

As we finished our final meal together for this event, picnicking at Peach Park, and going over the score sheets from our ten trials, complete with rounds of applause, mixed with hissing (at the judges who seemed to have slept through portions of the trials they were scoring), my heart was full of the joy of having watched these twelve students accomplish so much.

Saying Goodbye

And just as I thought we were going to load up the vehicles and continue our journey home, the students surprised me. They had other plans before we did that. One by one they took turns telling me how much they had enjoyed this experience (and the previous ones for the veterans on the team). They spoke of how much I meant to them, how much this club has meant to them, as well as the opportunities to do these things. I was crying before the first one had finished speaking, and I’m fairly certain I didn’t stop until after they were done.  As a coach for the past twenty-one years, I’ve spent lots of time with countless students. And there have certainly been the occasional thank you cards and gifts of thanks. But I don’t think anything has touched me the way those heartfelt words did yesterday.

The Time I Almost Quit

Six years ago I had threatened to quit at the end of a very stressful mock trial weekend. And when I sat in my hotel room looking at the six or seven students who had caused me so much heartache that weekend, I told them that they would be responsible for the fact that their younger siblings would never have the amazing opportunities that they had had. Fortunately, I went home from that weekend and had time to line up all the negative things and all the positive things that these weekends had brought along. And I had to admit, that in spite of the problems, the positives were still outweighing the negatives. So here I sat, six years later, listening to at least one of those younger siblings thanking me for the opportunities I had given her.

Tears of Joy

As a teacher I have been fairly confident over the years that I have made at least a small difference in many of my student’s lives. Yesterday, twelve of those students made me cry tears of joy by sharing some of those specifics with me. I am confident that memory will stay with me for a long time to come.

Tearfully and Joyfully,

Cathy

 

More about Mock Trial

We won a top Lawyer and a top Witness award in TN

At the risk of writing a post that is only of potential interest to a small number of people, I wanted to discuss one of my favorite homeschool topics again – Mock Trial. I’m going to talk specifically about our upcoming experience here in Alabama’s Mock Trial competition, but Mock Trial is a program available for high school students across most of the United States. (We’ve actually competed in Texas and Tennessee, in addition to our more than twenty years here in Alabama.)

Six weeks ago I wrote a post about the enjoyment and value of Mock Trial, Making Meaningful Memories with Mock Trial. I spoke then about what Mock Trial has meant to my own family and to the dozens (maybe hundreds?) of students we’ve shared it with over the past two decades plus.

But, at this moment, as we work to put our teams together for what I expect to be my final stint at coaching Mock Trial I thought I would answer some of the questions about it that come up so often. (I have grown sons in the area who may take up the coaching responsibilities for our club in the nearish future, but after this year, it is time for me to retire.)

First, What is Mock Trial?

In Alabama it is actually called Youth Judicial, but we’ve always called it Mock Trial and that’s what it’s generally called elsewhere, so we’ll stick to that. Mock Trial is a state competition for high school students (generally from public and private schools, with a few homeschool teams sometimes sprinkled in for good measure). In most states Mock Trial is sponsored by the state bar association, but in Alabama it’s sponsored by the YMCA. In states with bigger programs, there are competitions where teams must qualify to go to the state event, but in Alabama we just have the one, large state-wide competition that happens each November in Montgomery.

What Happens at the Competition?

The coach in the middle (Me) flanked by two of my assistants.

We (my teams and related adults) drive together to Montgomery on Friday afternoon, so that we can get checked into our hotel rooms and prepare for the weekend’s events. More than 50 teams of six or more students compete that weekend, basically all day on Saturday and Sunday – generally in one of the courtrooms in the Federal Court House there in Montgomery. Teams usually have two or three trials on each of those days and then watch, as “jury members,” another two or three trials/day.

What Happens in a Trial?

Each trial is conducted like a smaller, more controlled, version of a real life trial. The courtroom is set up like in real life – complete with a judge and a bailiff (in Alabama those are also students), a jury, a Prosecution team and a Defense team.

After the judges give their introductory remarks, lawyers from each side give an Opening Statement of three minutes or less (Prosecution and then Defense). After Opening Statements have been given the Prosecution team calls each of its three witnesses, one at a time of course, directing each witness and then allowing the witness to be crossed.  Re-directs and re-crosses are allowed (and encouraged, at least by this coach!).

Then it’s time for Defense to tell their side of the story – calling up their three witnesses to each be directed and crossed.  During these directs and crosses lawyers are allowed to make objections if they so desire. (Hearsay and Relevance being two that we hear often down there.) Judges rule on each of the objections as they are made. (Often rather poorly in this coach’s perspective, but alas, they aren’t asking for my opinion on the matter!)

Once all six witnesses (three from each side) have had their turns on the witness stand, we hear Closing Arguments (each lasting 5 minutes or less) – first from Prosecution, then Defense, and then hopefully one last time from Prosecution. (Defense doesn’t get a chance at a rebuttal, just Prosecution.)

That’s the nuts and bolts of how the trials run.  After trials I like to go over my notes with my students, generally encouraging them, sometimes reminding them to “Speak up!” and occasionally pointing out small things they can work on for the next time.  We will have practiced many times before this, and this isn’t the time to make major changes to our process. They have it by then or they don’t. But sometimes there is a question about an unexpected objection, or a procedural difference that surprised us. I’m not a lawyer, so occasionally these questions stump me too, but generally my twenty plus years of Mock Trial experience will give me the information they are seeking.

What is the Commitment before the Competition?

We’ve met countless teams in Montgomery that have held tryouts for their teams and are going down with every intention of trying for the first place award. Many of them are serious to the point of obnoxiousness. We’ve never had anything against winning. (I lose track, but I think we’ve taken home nine first place awards in the twenty years we’ve done this, as well as numerous second and third places.) But I don’t go down there expecting or desiring that. I would rather take students who want to learn something, while having a reasonably good time at it. I’ve never gotten angry with a student who forgot the facts in their statement or who missed an objection. As long as my students are doing their best, and not cheating (something we see too much of in Montgomery), I am happy with them.

Since we have two teams we practice together once a week (on Wednesday mornings), and then each team practices at least one other time each week. (This year my Prosecution team also meets on Monday afternoons, and my Defense team has practices on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.) Most of my students make it to each of their team’s allotted practice times, but I do have one student who calls in from his home in Tennessee each time instead of making the lengthy drive, and we have another student who will miss most of the practices because of her school schedule.  As long as students are willing to do the work at home and are putting in the necessary time, we can work with almost any homeschooled student who wants to participate. (To simplify things for me, the coach and the advisor, teams have always been made exclusively of students from homeschooled families. That doesn’t prevent all problems, sadly, but it at least cuts down on them.)

What Does It Require to Be a Witness?

Witnesses have to spend much time on their own reading and getting very comfortable with their own witness statements. They are responsible for knowing all the little and not so little facts that their statement presents. (And a few of the witnesses, in this case our doctors, have to be familiar with one or more of the relevant exhibits.) As much as is possible, we actually have witnesses write out their own Direct questions and answers. That makes it easier on them, since witnesses must memorize their answers to the Direct questions (or at least the related facts, so they can easily answer those questions) and know their statements well enough to answer most any Cross questions that might get thrown at them. (Witnesses have no notes to help them when they take their seat in the Witness Stand.)

What is Required to be a Lawyer?

Lawyers on the other hand, can use notes if they want to. (It may drop their score by a point, but that’s not a point worth stressing about.) Before the competition, each lawyer has to write a series of questions for whichever witness they are going to be crossing. They also need to have at least a passing knowledge of the most common objections, particularly the ones they are most likely to hear on their questions or that they will most likely want to make. (Something we try to work on each practice to make it easier. But again, not something I stress about.) Additionally, one lawyer from each team has to write the Opening Statement and another lawyer has to write the Closing Argument. Again, lawyers have the privilege of being able to memorize their questions and speeches, or to use notes, whichever they prefer.

How Much Does All This Cost?

Sadly, this is the difficult part of the equation. Competing in Alabama’s Mock Trial Competition is not cheap! The YMCA charges each student $275 – and that only covers some of our costs (two of our nights in the hotel, a couple of our meals, and a t-shirt they may or may not want). On top of that, our additional expenses have risen to $125 per student – by the time we pay for our additional hotel costs, the extra meals, and our transportation to and from Montgomery. (And this is with the coaches and any other parents that want to attend paying their own expenses.)

Is Mock Trial Worth all this Time and Money?

Obviously, each family has to decide that for themselves, but more than twenty years ago I made the decision that yes, this was something we would invest the time and money into. (Fortunately it didn’t cost quite this much back then. Costs seem to rise annually.) And believe me, we have – I’ve taken as many as three of my own children to this at one time – having to pay for each of them and myself as the coach. And I’ve paid for the privilege of taking other people’s children for the last several years, since my last child graduated from the program.  So, yes, I know the costs and have been willing to pay them.

From this program I have seen countless students polish their public speaking skills as well as their logic and thinking skills. Every student who has participated with us has learned something in the process and the vast majority have thoroughly enjoyed it. Full disclosure – I had one daughter who did it one time to help out in an usual situation. She did not love it, but that has seldom been the case. And I’m sure she learned much in the process, even if she won’t admit it!

If you are looking for a lively way to introduce your students to our judicial system while at the same time helping them to hone their speaking and thinking skills, I can’t think of a better way than Mock Trial.

Happy learning!

Cathy

Making Meaningful Memories with Mock Trial

Our Extracurricular Activities

My personal favorite sport is volleyball!

With twelve children, it should not be surprising that my family has been involved in a lot of different activities: from a variety of sports (everything from soccer to rugby, lacrosse, volleyball, and more), to Scouts, Drama, and even a brief stint of 4-H. But amongst all the other wonderful extra-curricular activities that various ones participated in throughout their school years, there is only one that they all did at least once, and some as many as five or six times: Mock Trial (or Youth Judicial, as it is called in the program here in Alabama).

Mock Trial Pioneers

My oldest kids were on one of the first ever homeschool teams in the state of Texas, and four years later one of my sons started the first ever homeschool team in the state of Alabama. And we continued the Mock Trial teams through our homeschool group long after that son graduated from high school, college, and law school. If you count the early years when I was more of an advisor than a coach (my son served as the real coach for the first few years in Alabama), this will be my 21st year coaching high school Mock Trial.

Coaching Mock Trial

Of all the things I’ve done in the homeschool community I don’t think anything has brought me more joy than coaching Mock Trial. (Though, of course, in 20 years of doing this, it’s brought me a few aggravations as well. But compared to the positives, the negatives have been few and far between.)

Not Just for Future Lawyers

I’m very happy that all of my children (as well as three of my nieces and dozens of other homeschooled students) have been able to partake of this amazing activity. For those who want to become lawyers, it is practically a must. But even for the more numerous students who have no interest in going into law, it is an amazing experience! It helps students work on their public speaking skills as well as their logic and quick thinking.  And it introduces them to how our judicial system should work.

Big Time Commitment

It’s not an easy extracurricular activity – it takes up several hours a week for about six weeks each fall. (At least in Alabama. In other states, the Mock Trial competition occurs later in the year.) We’ve gone up against teams that do tryouts for spots on their teams, but we’ve never felt the need to do that. In our twenty years of competing in Mock Trial in Alabama we only had try outs once – and that was when I had two students that both wanted to give the Opening Statement on their team. We had to settle that with a “write off.” But I’ve never had to turn down a high schooler who wanted to participate with us. (We’ve occasionally had to fill team spots with 7th or 8th graders, and I haven’t always had spots for younger siblings that have wanted to participate with us.)

How Badly Do We Want to Win?

We certainly don’t mind winning, and have accomplished seven first places in our twenty years, along with a reasonable number of second and third places. But we don’t go down to Montgomery determined to win at all costs. In fact, I’ve told my students I would rather them forget their facts on the witness stand, or miss an objection as a lawyer than to pull some of the cheap shots that we’ve seen some other teams pull.  Many years ago we had a trial that was so bad that I had to write a small booklet about the experience to help us all get through the emotional trauma. That booklet, A Trial of a Trial, now available on both Amazon and CurrClick, has since become a useful teaching tool for our new students and other new students in our area. But again, the good news is that experiences like that are rare.

A Great High School Experience to Try

If you have a chance to try Mock Trial or Youth Judicial with your students, I would strongly recommend it! I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Happy learning!

Cathy

© 2024

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑