On March 27, 2010, the Community High School Mock Trial Team “A” won the state championship tournament in Lansing. The team beat long-time rival Kalamazoo Central High School to take first. The team, lead by Community High teacher Cheryl Grace, beat out nine other state finalists to represent Michigan in the national tournament.
“I was thrilled that our students’ hard work paid off, that our style of doing mock trial was rewarded and was acknowledged,” said coach Cheryl Grace.“I also immediately started thinking of fundraising and how to organize the trip to Philadelphia. We also have a whole new case to work on. But we’ve done it before so I knew we could do it again.”
The courtroom was filled with parents as well as the CHS “B” team during the final round of the State competition. “I was really proud of the A team because they put in so much hard work and really deserved to win!” said sophomore Kelsey Teribery.
In preparation for the national tournament, the team has continued to practice weeknights from 7-9 at CHS. The team is currently developing case theories and themes for both sides: the Commonwealth and the Defense. This year’s case involves a group of students called the Children of Liberty (COL) who rebel against the strict Principal Carter Braxton at John Peter Zenger High School. The defendant, Maddox Hale, was a student running for president at J.P. Zenger who was charged with aggravated assault after one of the school guards at a campaign rally was hit in the head with a rock filled snowball. The Children of Liberty had been instructed to throw rocks covered with snow at the guards through the COL Twitter (called Jitter) account.
“I’m very confident in this team’s ability to do well at Nationals. We have a strong support system from the parents and B team. I knew that the team deserved to win,” said Grace.
The team has competed at Nationals in 1995, 2003 and 2004. Community High School placed 4th in the nation in 2004, the last time that the team represented Michigan in the tournament.
The National Mock Trial Tournament will be held in Philadelphia on May 6, 2010. The team hopes to travel by coach bus to Philadelphia on May 6 and return May 9. The team hopes to raise several thousand dollars in order to lower the expense for families. To raise funds for the trip, the team is holding a Gala Fundraiser on April 17, 2009.
The event, titled “Objective: Going to Nationals…Sustained!”, will take place in the Craft Theater at Community High School. A silent auction is also scheduled as part of the event. Following the auction, the CHS State Champion A Team will demonstrate a trial against the State Finalist B Team. The trial will give attendees the opportunity to see the team perform. Attendees may also act as jurors in the trial.
“This is a great opportunity to come and not only support the team, but also get a quick view of what mock trial is in an hour. You can get a snapshot of what a great way of learning it is,” said Mary Beth Lewis, the event coordinator. “And anyone can support the program by sending a check to CHS with Mock Trial in the memo line.”
The CHS Jazz Band will also be performing at the event. The gala fundraiser will take place on Saturday, April 17 from 5-7:30 pm.
