St. Michael School Mock Trial Nine Years Strong

Nine years ago, a parent of a St. Michael student thought it would be an excellent idea for the 8th graders to learn about the judicial system of the United States as an extracurricular activity.  Mock Trial today at St. Michael School is still regarded as a popular activity that many of the students look forward to joining in their 8th grade year.

The students met every Friday after school for eight weeks of class instruction. In the program, the students were given a “crime” to bring to trial. They were taught by a team of attorneys, all parent volunteers, and learned how a criminal trial works. After being assigned to either the prosecution team or the defense team, each student wrote up and ultimately conducted a direct examination and/or cross examination, or an argument.

The final trial took place at the Bridgeview Courthouse on Thursday, March 6th in the evening. The students appeared before REAL judges to argue their cases. After the young attorneys gave their closing arguments, the jury reached a verdict. The jury is usually made up of the visitors who come along to watch the proceedings; teachers, parents, brothers and sisters. After the foreman read the verdict, the real judges spoke to the participants informing them of how they did. SMS Mock Trial is very fortunate to have Judge John Hynes, Judge Colleen Hyland Robertson and Judge Neil Linehan take extra time every year to participate in the final trial and explain the workings of the legal system to our eighth graders.

This year, SMS Mock Trial was lucky to have a new group of parent volunteers to share their legal expertise with the students. Many thanks to Mr. Coughlin, Mrs. McCarthy, Mr. Bonini, Mr. Harlin, Mr. McGovern and Mrs. Hennessy.

The 2014 SMS Mock Trial Students are listed below.

Brian Cooke                                        Dan Gentile                                        Alexis Vargas

Danny Meehan                                 Kate Larkin                                          Nathan O’Halloran

Maggie Nolan                                    August Hauter                                   Ellen Weiss

Matt Schumacher                            Tim Dalton                                          Sammy Presbitero

Alyssa Lennon                                   Maddy Sigel                                       Carly Turcich

Morgan McAuliffe                           Maureen Imrie                                 Julianna Dabrowski