By Samuel Goodykoontz
BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!! All of the TPA 8th grade class was held on trial for………. haha just kidding. That was a mock announcement, just like the trial. Mr. Macdonald took the 8th grade class on a field trip to the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. Courthouse on Nov. 1 to participate in a mock trial.
Many positive accounts were said about the trip, one being said by eighth grader Taylor Conley. “The purpose of the mock trial was to teach the students of 8th grade more about the court system. It also introduced us to the idea of becoming lawyers when we grow up. Mr. Macdonald wanted to let us really experience what it feels like to practice law.”
When she was questioned about what she did while there, Taylor described that “We arrived at the Sandra Day O’Connor U.S. District Court, which was six stories high. It had so many courtrooms. Lawyers were waiting in the main hall to introduce us to our courtroom. We then held the trial, brought up witnesses, and students cross-examined and questioned.
“We then finished up and went to a large room in which this woman told us about the verdicts and what happens in between court cases. During that large assembly, where there were about seven schools, we learned about how K-9 units worked and learned about this black lab named Joy who could smell explosives.
“They also had this drug testing guy come up. He asked to call up a teacher, and another school’s teacher came up. They asked her to come to the bathroom and pee in a cup. Then they returned, holding a cup of what seemed like pee. The cop guy then told us he was going to test it and then he drank the entire thing. We soon found out it was really apple juice, so that was humorous.”
When asked about her favorite part, Taylor responded that “I really enjoyed being the judge of my courtroom and looking upon my peers. A real judge helped me out and told me what to say sometimes, and other times I read long paragraphs.”
Taylor feels that she’s “learned about the intricate ways court works, intense questioning, and the possibility of becoming a lawyer myself! I loved using skills that I have to practice in congress with speech and debate.” She feels that the trip affected her speech and debate by showing “how I can use all of these skills in whatever job I choose in the future.”
Eighth grader Reagan Ellise thought that the reason for the trip was “to learn about how trials would look like in real life and what’s happening during them.” She felt that it was “fun because I got to learn about how trials work.” In the mock trial, she “was playing the role as the defendant Tammy Lopez-Garcia, who was being accused of having possession of a controlled substance. I needed to know all of the information about her before I could go through the cross examination. So, during the trial I had to think about the questions before giving an answer right away. I also had to make sure I was confident in my responses so I seemed convincing. My favorite part was seeing what the jury would decide because both the defense and prosecution lawyers did such a good job.”
It’s obvious that the trial was well-received by the 8th graders.
