CY Middle School Gifted and Talented program students walked through the doors of the Townsend Justice Center with nerves of excitement, anticipation, and well-earned confidence as they embarked on their annual mock trial event. Students research, strategize and prepare for this exciting culminating event for weeks. Through the experience, students dive into their assigned roles as lawyers, jurors, and witnesses throughout the trial, where Judge Catherine E. Wilking, District Court Judge for the Seventh Judicial District, presides, giving the day a real-life environment as a civil trial.
CYMS Gifted and Talented program teacher Whitney Wilking starts off the project by providing students with a summary of the case, verdict form, affidavits, and exhibits. This is done before assigning student roles to give the students an unbiased view of the case. Ryleigh, who served as a defense lawyer for the mock trial, shared, “I think it was really beneficial to see everything and be able to pull out the weaknesses from both sides, not only to eventually find rebuttals for the weaknesses in your own case but also to find the weaknesses in the other side.”
After roles are assigned, the students then take the lead and drive the project while learning from the mentor attorneys along the way. To prepare, students worked with and learned from Ms. Anna Olson, an attorney with Park Street Law Office, and Mr. Scott Murray, an attorney with Williams Porter Day & Neville, who volunteered countless hours of their time to assist and guide the students through various aspects of the project.
“My favorite part of the Mock Trial project was definitely working with the mentor attorneys. I liked getting a professional opinion, and because they do this every day, they thought about things in ways that I would have never even considered,” shared Zoe, who served as a defense lawyer.
The benefit these attorneys provided to the students preparing for this case was extraordinary. “One of the most helpful things Mr. Murray did was when we would ask him questions, instead of just answering, he would re-ask us the question, and in the end, we would answer it ourselves,” shared Payton, who served as a lawyer for the plaintiff.
Ms. Olson’s expertise and guidance helped provide a new perspective for the students on their legal arguments, “Their styles are completely different. We focused with Ms. Olson on our opening and closing statements, and she gave us really good feedback on those, and it was really helpful,” explained Ryleigh.
Through this project, students learned the inner workings of the Wyoming justice system, practiced their critical thinking skills, and fine-tuned their public speaking, all while having a lot of fun. “There are so many skills necessary to really shine in the trial. Some of those can be planned for, and some need to be impromptu. It taps into their critical thinking, analysis, collaboration, and working with experts and professionals. I see them light up when they have those opportunities. The connections with legal professionals definitely made the experience more authentic. Working with Scott and Anna showed them the extent to which critical thinking and persuasive skills matter,” said Ms. Whitney Wilking.
Though the weeks of preparation leading up to the mock trial were filled with excitement and dedicated preparation, the students shared that nothing compared to the real-life experience in the courtroom. “My favorite part was giving the opening statement. I felt so professional and fancy,” shared Kendra, whose role was a lawyer for the plaintiff.
Ryleigh agreed giving statements in the courthouse was a highlight of the project, “My favorite part was giving the closing arguments. It was both difficult and fun to both write and perform. It was hard for me to pull all the information out in the closing argument and shine the light that we wanted on the facts. It was a very fun process for me.”
Judge Wilking expressed her admiration for the students' work and critical thinking skills, “All of the students were fantastic. It was clear they had put a tremendous amount of work into the project. The student attorneys were very effective advocates for their respective clients, and I could tell they truly believed in the arguments they made to the jury.”
As they worked through the case, the students began to have a deeper appreciation for the real-life opportunity to learn about what happens in the courtroom. “I realized I had no idea what really went on in a courthouse. Comparing it to what you see on TV was really interesting, and seeing how inaccurate it is on TV,” shared Payton.
Zoe agreed that this project completely changed the way she understood the justice system and the people involved in a case, “The way that I saw our judicial system was that it was set in stone, one way or the other. I thought things were black and white. After taking a dive and seeing what it is like, it’s really just professional arguing. No matter who the judge is, who the jurors are, who the witnesses are, there will always be personal opinions involved in the final decision.”
Judge Wilking also acknowledged the importance of opportunities like this for students to better understand the criminal justice system and civic responsibility. “All of the students expressed their surprise at how difficult the fact pattern was and how hard it was to reach a just verdict. They thought coming into the project that it would be fairly cut and dry and soon discovered that it was much more nuanced, there were valid points to be made on both sides, and in fact they were dealing with varying shades of gray in the case. They then understood that very few things are simple when it comes to jury trials and that is why we entrust our citizen jurors with the task of resolving disputes in civil cases and administering justice in criminal cases.”
Through projects such as the Mock Trial, students have unique learning opportunities that challenge and engage them throughout the year. “I would recommend anyone who has the chance to participate in this opportunity take it. It was very eye-opening,” said Zoe.
“The students worked extraordinarily hard with challenging material and processes. I think they're proud of themselves and they definitely should be,” shared Ms. Whitney Wilking.
CY Middle School is committed to student growth, achievement, and citizenship!