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BC Mock Trial: Doing what no one had done before

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Contributed by: Aimy Tien on 4/9/2008

The 2007-2008 school year was supposed to be the rebuilding year. It was supposed to be the year focused on learning, not competing. It was supposed to be the year of mediocrity.

Bear Creek High School's Mock Trial team, however, had a problem grasping this concept.

They wanted to win.

The team started with ten members, seven returning and three new. In the span of two months, two veterans, along with a new member, quit the team, leaving seven students. Seven members meant five needed to play dual roles.

Fortunately, over a month after the Colorado Bar Association's case was released, the team found two more members. This team of nine would accomplish what no BCHS Mock Trial team had before.

This melding of the old and the new placed first at the Jefferson County Regional Tournament (February 26-29), qualifying for the state tournament. Jurors named junior Mariah Norby as one of the top ten witnesses and senior Andre Jaen as one of the top ten attorneys.

"In the last two years our team has always been points away from state. This year, to have won Regionals with nearly half the team being new, is absolutely amazing," said junior Aimy Tien.

For the BCHS team, it was a long road to the state tournament. They could only meet with their attorney coach, David Schott, twice a week at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

There the students worked on the case of the State of Colorado v. Whitney Dwight with three law school students. Each law student edited the material of two witnesses.

The case involved six defense and prosecution witnesses. Students presented both sides. Jurors score on individual performance rather than delivering a verdict.

By February, the students logged hundreds of hours revising, practicing, and scrimmaging. "We lived and breathed Mock Trial," said new team member, junior Elizabeth Phelps, an attorney.

At the state tournament in Fort Collins (March 14-15), the team once again performed well. "Some of the performances that I saw at state were the best I had ever seen from them," said Coach Kelly Cvanciger, a teacher at BCHS.

"The thrill and adrenaline rush of being on the witness stand made all that work completely worth it," said junior Morgan Taylor.

Although BCHS did not reach the championship round, Tien, an attorney for both sides, ranked in the top three attorneys at the tournament.

Along with their accomplishments in the CBA case, four team member-Jaen, Norby, Tien, and junior Mica Varga-participated in the National Providence Cup earlier in the year.

With two weeks preparation, they reached the championship round, placing second and earning $1,500. The team also won the Team Spirit Award, earning $2,000. Jaen won the Best Witness award, earning $1,000.

The "Bearly Legal" team garnered $4,500 in college scholarships, over a third of the money awarded.

This year's performances demonstrated the team's commitment to winning, to Mock Trial, and ultimately to each other, surely a predictor of years to come.

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Submitted By: Morgan Taylor

posted on 4/11/2008 @ 4:12:33 PM

Rated Story

Go Mock Trial!! woohoo!!! it was a good season :-)

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Aimy Tien

Littleton , CO

Aimy Tien has posted 2 stories and 2 comments since joining on 5/23/2006. Aimy Tien 's average story rating is 5.

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