LAKEPORT — A partnership between the Lake County Office of Education and Lake County Superior Court began implementing the Lake County Mock Trial program for high schools for the 2012-13 school year.
A kick-off for the program took place Tuesday in Department 2 of the Superior Court. Honorable Judge Andrew Blum and court manager Suzanne Blavet were present, as were Wally Holbrook, county Superintendent of Schools, and Stephanie Wayment, an ELA/ELD specialist from the Office of Education.
Members of the academic and legal community were also present, including Patrick Iaccino, Upper Lake High School District Superintendent, and former District Attorney Jon Hopkins.
Holbrook stated that four high schools expressed an interest to participate and compete in the program following orientations held earlier this year.
Blavet announced the names of participating attorneys who will serve as attorney coaches for the schools. Angela and Stephen Carter will coach Middletown High, Jacqueline Snyder will coach Lower Lake High, Jon Hopkins and David Markham will coach Kelseyville High and Anna Gregorian and Bill Conwell will coach Upper Lake High.
Other attorneys expressed interest in participating. The attorneys may be involved as coaches or evaluators, with evaluators critiquing and scoring the trials as presented by the students.
Each year, the Constitutional Rights Foundation chooses one hypothetical criminal trial that relates to an issue of interest to high school students. The mock trials are non-jury court trials and are presented to a superior court judge who renders a verdict at the conclusion of the trial”s presentation. The attorney evaluator”s scores determine the winner of the competition, not the verdict.
Wayment provided informational handouts for the teacher and attorney coaches that explained some of the rules and guidelines for the coaches, as well as a tentative timeline for the program”s future events.
Wayment said the competition is also open to students interested in art and journalism. Art students compete at sketching courtroom scenes and journalism students compete at reporting on the trials.
The winning school from each county goes to the state competition in March. For more information, contact the Lake County Office of Education at 262-4100.
