| For immediate release March 4, 2011 |
Contact:
Andrea Woodhouse, SCCOE Phone: (408) 453-6824 |
Prospect High School wins Mock Trial event
SAN JOSE, CA – Students from Prospect High School will compete for a state championship later this month after recently winning the Santa Clara County Mock Trial competition.
The Prospect team defeated their Saratoga High School peers in the Feb. 22 final round of a tournament hosted by the Santa Clara County Office of Education and the Santa Clara County Bar Association.
Prospect's aspiring legal minds are Joe Boorojian, Eric Campbell, Nicholas Cotter, Van Do, Jack Eyers, Nathan Foos, Malina Gulino, Salim Hafid, Wendy Hwong, Connie Kwong, Amanda Leventhal, Vivian Li, Nick Perry, Ahalya Srikant, Eliza Tsang, Jennifer Zaldivar and Tina Zhao.
Teacher coaches Stephen Smith and Marisa Cantone, as well as attorney coach James Leonard mentored the winning legal eagles.
This year, about 390 students from 21 public and private schools in Santa Clara County participated in the event.
In Mock Trial, students act as lawyers, witnesses, bailiffs and time-keepers in a fictional criminal court case. The activity requires interpretation of the facts and relevant case law, as well as strong reading comprehension and acting skills.
Students present their case before a Santa Clara County judge, and work with local attorneys who coach, mentor and guide the pupils. Also, attorneys from across the county volunteer their time to score students' presentations.
This year's imaginary case, People v. Woodson, centered on a student accused of assault and cyber bullying, as well as the First and 14th Amendments.
Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky acted as presiding judge. The scoring panel was comprised of San Jose City Attorney Rick Doyle; Santa Clara County Public Defender Mary Greenwood;
Santa Clara County Bar Association President Shannon Stein; Santa Clara County Counsel Miguel Márquez; Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Johnny Gogo; and Santa Clara County Assistant District Attorney David Tomkins.
The state competition will be held March 25-27 in Riverside, Calif.
The SCCOE will honor the students in April.
Date last updated: March 4, 2011
