September 7, 2016

The Constitutional Rights Foundation hosts Annual Mock Trials for students throughout the nation. This year, AGBU’s Vatche and Tamar Manoukian High School (MHS) will participate in the 39th Annual Los Angeles County Mock Trial Competition. 35 counties in California participate in local county competitions which then lead to State and National Finals (crf-usa.org).

Teams of students from dozens of Southern California high schools—many from the ranks of the most prestigious private and public institutions—present in actual courtrooms the trial record from the alternative perspectives of the prosecution and the defense. Mock trial team members internalize and project the complete spectrum of participants in an actual trial, including donning the personas of attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and bailiffs. The teams generally do not know the identities of their opposition, and will not know how they rated against the competition until they are ready to advance to the next round.

This program helps develop the analytic and oral skills of participating high school students. The students have the guidance of a teacher and two attorney coaches. The students prepare in the Fall semester, and ultimately compete before sitting Los Angeles Superior Court Judges in November. The AGBU Western District is excited about guiding our MHS students through this unique learning experience. Students must register before Friday, October 14th in order to participate in the competition. We can’t wait to see our students in action, GO SPARTANS!