Students in Mock Trial anticipated the release of this year’s case, excited to get working after last year’s success. While the case came out in late December, the mock trial teams met on Fridays during the first half of the year to build their experience. 

“We like to get students together and basically work on mock trial skills like understanding the rules of evidence, how to maybe build and develop a character if you’re going to be a witness,” Jason Schumman, one of the mock trial coaches said. 

This year, the mock trial program consists of 5 teams, and the program gained many new students, as well as added two coaches. 

“[5 teams is] the most we’ve ever had, and we have around 35 students completely new to the program,” Schumann said. “It’s been exciting to continue to see growth in our program.”

Last year, the teams practiced and competed on Zoom. This year, teams are practicing in person, and will most likely be competing in person as well.

“When you’re in person, there are certain things that you have to do in terms of your movement that can’t really be captured on Zoom,” Schumann said. “We’ve worked a little bit more intentionally on body language and posture, aspects of [mock] trial that are very important when competing in person.”

As the teams prepare for competition in March, Schumman is looking forward to seeing creativity and growth within the teams.  

“Every team breaks apart and comes up with their own unique take on the case,” Schumann said. “We get to see the various ways in which the teams have thought through the problem and how they want to present the narrative.”