VICTORY!!!

What is the Mock Trial Competition?  This is an extracurricular activity conducted at high schools in most states, in which students conduct mock trials in front of judges.  The judges, true to their nature, judge them.  In Michigan, there are 43 teams.  Ten teams advance from the Regional Tournament to the State Finals.  This year, those 10 teams were: Andover HS, City HS (Grand Rapids), Community HS (Ann Arbor), East Kentwood HS, Forest Hills Northern HS, Howell HS, Ida HS, Kalamazoo Central HS, Lahser HS, and Midland HS.

Four teams make it to the Semifinals, and two teams get to the "Blue Ribbon Round."  I uses quotes because I did not see any actual blue ribbons.  Yes, my son Kevin was in the Blue Ribbon Round.   And his team -- well, the team he is on -- won the big prize.  

The toughest match was not the final round.  In the semifinals, they went up against Lahser.  Kevin played the part of a prosecuting attorney.  He was marvelous.  Afterward, the judges provide a critique.  Kevin was mentioned by name, twice, for his meritorious performance.  A few others from both teams were mentioned by name; I say this in a feeble effort to be "fair and balanced."  Kevin was the only one mentioned twice. 

Both Community and Lahser got scores over 100 (out of a possible 120).  Typically, a winning score is around 80 or 90.  So both teams did really well. 

The kids from Lahser HS were: Omaima Bokhari, Jonathan Fleischmann, Chris Hanson, Juliet Happy, Jessica Hiett, Peter Krzywicki, Adam Masserang, Kyle Miletic, Alison Murray, and Meg Townsend.  I would like to thank them for providing worthy competition. 

Kevin's teammates were Marie Alexander, Helen Bates, Brandon Collins, Josh Florida, Zahreen Ghaznavi, Mary Hennessey, Alice Holbrook, Maggie Klein, and James Leaf.  Their teacher coach is Cheryl Grace -- who did a great job.  I would like to thank Ms. Grace for contributing to Kevin's intellectual development.  Not that he needed it, but every bit is a good thing.  Their attorney coaches were Griffith Dick and Robert West.  They contributed a great deal. 

In the Blue Ribbon round, Community High faced off against Forest Hills Northern.  This also was a good round, although in my non-expert opinion, it was not as close as the semifinal round.  The team from Forest Hills Northern consisted of Chris Chen, Norah Comstock, Megan Eardley, David Fraker, Nina Hart, Mitch Kosowski, Ben Levick, Noah Manger, Rasika Ranganathan, and Steve Vossler.  Congratulations to all. 

I don't have the pictures yet so I am posting their picture from last year.  Of the two guys in the back, flanking the State Seal, Kevin is the one on the left.

2003 Michigan High School Mock Trial Tournament Blue-Ribbon Finalists from Community High School, Ann Arbor, along with blue-ribbon judges (at left) Nancy Diehl, treasurer for the State Bar of Michigan; Stu Sandler, representing Attorney General Mike Cox; and Justice Marilyn J. Kelly, Michigan Supreme Court.

When the winners were announced, I had to refrain from doing the Howard Dean Scream. (1.6Mb mp3 file)

The team will be going to Orlando, Florida May 6-9 for the Nationals, for the second year in a row.