August marked the beginning of a new school year at the Holbrook Junior Senior High School, and with the new year came additional after school activities. One of these clubs is the mock trial team. Mr. Espie, who is the group’s advisor explained, “A mock trial team is a group of students who play the roles of witnesses and lawyers in simulated court cases. Your team is assigned one side of a criminal or civil law case. Based on how well you perform at your role, judges award the team points. The team that is awarded the most points wins, no matter the outcome of the case.”

The club consists of a preparation “season,” lasting from late September to January 1st. Following that is a trial/tournament season from January to as far as the team can go into March. During the trial/tournament season, the meetings can range from 60 to 90 minutes long. The cases for the mock trials are then released in January. This is the time when the team would compete against other schools and the few meetings a week would be elongated. Students involved in this club will travel to other schools to compete in a tournament format. By winning, you will advance onward. The trials themselves could last anywhere between the ranges of one hour and two hours.

It is important to note that this team is only open to juniors and seniors. By joining the mock trial team, Mr. Espie believes that students will have a better understanding for how cases are ordered in court, give them a means of conferring issues in regards to the criminal justice system, and give students a better understanding of the importance of citizenship, along with assisting your fellow peers. Mr. Espie wrote that he is excited to be the adviser for this team. He also mentioned he is looking forward to having Katie Walker help the team as an undergraduate mentor. Mr. Espie has done a mock trial every year in his Criminal Justice class and the spirit the students express and the arguments by the student attorneys is captivating. This, along with the hope of success against more experienced schools, is something Mr. Espie is also excited for in regards to the mock trial team. If you are outgoing, resourceful, into problem solving, want to make an impact on the lives of others, or “enjoy the imperfect science of how the law works,” this may be a club worth checking out.