DANVILLE – Two dozen fifth through eighth grade students shuffled into Danville’s elementary school library after their school days concluded.
But, mentally, the students entered the Superior Court of Arizona, preparing to try both sides of a case involving an alleged kidnapping.
Danville’s middle school mock trial team, open to students as young as fifth grade, is preparing to present its skills in a statewide showcase at the Ohio Supreme Court on May 20.
Middle school mock trial differs from high school in that it has only one showcase per year, Danville English teacher/mock trial advisor Hunter Webster said.
High school mock trial has district, regional and state competitions. Danville’s high school team competed regionally but did not advance to the state competition this year. Middle school has a state showcase, where teams receive awards but not placements.
Danville’s middle schoolers have been recognized for their mock trial achievements in the past.
Last year, the middle school team won three of four possible outstanding awards. In 2020, the structure of the competition during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic led to no awards. In 2019, the middle school team won one outstanding award.
In the upcoming May showcase, Danville’s middle schoolers will be eligible to win up to eight outstanding awards because it has enough participation for two teams.
The students will take on various roles in May, from witnesses to attorneys for the prosecution and defense.
One of those students is Narissa Holbrook, an eighth grader on Danville’s team who is homeschooled and travels an hour to attend practice. Holbrook, who said she is otherwise a shy person, began firing off cross-examination questions as the prosecution’s closing attorney during a Tuesday afternoon practice.
Cross examinations are her favorite, she explained, but objections pose a challenge.
As Holbrook practiced, one of the two volunteers present from the high school mock trial team sat close by and made objections. It soon became apparent the banter between them was that only siblings can share.
Narissa Holbrooks’s older sister, Nora, interjected, “objection your honor, relevance,” and subsequently coached her sister through a response. The Holbrooks’ mock trial participation also extends to another one of their siblings, sixth grader Nya, who was practicing her defense opening nearby.
For many of the mock trial students, the Holbrooks included, practice does not stop outside school walls. The eldest Holbrook takes initiative to help her sisters improve at home.
“They get mad at me because they cross me and I give them the answers that they don’t want to push them,” Nora said.
Students explained that mock trial requires them to prepare for the unexpected.
Sixth grader Brooklyn Ashman will be on the prosecution’s closing team in May, which is a new undertaking for her as she had been a witness last year. Ashman’s greatest challenge is preparing for rebuttals.
“You can’t prepare it,” Ashman explained. “It’s written on the spot.”
Students also practice being intentional about the words they choose.
For instance, while Narissa questioned fellow student Lucas Parrish as he played a witness, Nora cautioned Parrish to not speak definitively as it could implicate him later.
“Don’t say definitely, because you can’t know for sure,” Nora explained.
While the students will have one shot at the trial come the showcase, they run through as many possibilities as they can think of during practice, often preparing for answers that are least desired to help their side.
While high school mock trial cases are generally related to current events, middle school mock trial cases are literature-based, written by teams of teachers and lawyers using books commonly read by middle schoolers.
The middle school program is also designed to align with Ohio’s social studies and English/language arts learning standards for interdisciplinary teaching.
For the upcoming 2022 showcase, the trial is based on “Greystone Secrets: The Strangers” by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
The premise of the trial is that the lives of three siblings — Rochester (Chess), Emma and Finn Greystone — are turned upside down when a chain of events leads them to discover an alternative world.
Three siblings from Arizona go missing, and the Greystone siblings discover the Arizona siblings have the same names, birthdays, and appearances as them. Following this discovery, the Greystone siblings’ mother goes on a last-minute work trip, which leads Chess, Emma and Finn on a mission to figure out what is really going on.
They soon stumble into another world, the “Other World,” to find their mother on trial for murder and the kidnapped siblings from Arizona in government custody.
The trial will determine the guilt of Susanna Morales, the judge in the “Other World,” who the state of Arizona charges with kidnapping the Arizona siblings, pursuant to section 2905.01 of the Arizona Revised Code. The manner and reason for the relocation of the children is disputed by the parties in the case.
The Arizona siblings went missing when officer Alex Miller picked them up after getting off a school bus and took them to Morales. Morales claims the children were taken into custody by mistake and asserts that they had mistaken them for Greystone siblings, who were supposed to be taken into protective custody by Miller.
The prosecution will argue evidence proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Morales is guilty of kidnapping the Arizona children; whereas the defense will argue he did not kidnap the Gustano children and that the state of Arizona will be unable to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that Morales knowingly removed the children from their home and restrained their liberty.
In order to try this case, Danville’s middle school mock trial students have been studying procedures, statutes and definitions as well as collaboratively developing arguments for both sides. Through this process, they learn first-hand about the law, court procedures and the judicial system.
A culture of self-motivated learning was palpable during a recent after-school practice. Students worked collaboratively running through cross examinations but also independently on writing and memorizing statements, which was the case for eighth grader Zander Patrick.
Patrick will be the attorney for the defense, which he said has been challenging because it involves a lot of writing and understanding the whole case. This year will be the first time the current middle schoolers have an in-person showcase, and Patrick is planning accordingly.
“I’m working on eye contact with the judge, because you’re not just looking at a camera,” he explained.
Middle school students are either in their first or second year doing mock trial because the COVID-19 pandemic had stymied participation, advisor Hunter Webster said.
The team has doubled in size from last year, with 12 students, to this year, with 21.
Webster receives help preparing the middle schoolers from his high school mock trial students, who volunteer their time. The high schoolers use their previous experience to assist with more than technical skill building.
For example, freshman Kaylee Stimpert will be teaching a lesson on courtroom etiquette to the middle school team ahead of their in-person showcase in May.
Common skills gained among the students through their mock trial participation included etiquette, public speaking and confidence.
“It gets you out of your comfort zone and you learn new things,” Nya Holbrook said. “It can be stressful, but in the end, it’s very fun.”
On that note, Holbrook rejoined the other world, the Superior Court of Arizona, practicing cross examinations, rebuttals and preparing for the unexpected.
Danville’s middle school mock trial team includes: Zander Patrick, Laura Hochstetler, Kyra Blackshear, Kay’Den Kuhel, Narissa Holbrook (homeschooled), Cale Brewer, Isaiah Kuhel-Schaade, Kaden Sanders, Brooklyn Ashman, Nya Holbrook (homeschooled), Jordan Crane, Evan Crider, Lucas Parrish, Ana Avila, Audrey Hottinger, Stella Brecheisen, Raegan Malone, Riley Malone, Ryleigh Geog, Natalie Cozza and Delila Colopy.
