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Mock Trial is a club that competes against other schools to argue court cases.

Each year the Pennsylvania Bar association creates a case and the students involved in Mock Trial take the roles of lawyers and witnesses, prepare, argue the case, and try to convince a jury their side is right. If you are interested in joining, stop by room 104 and talk to Mr. Elder. You can join any time between now and December.

The club meets in room 104, and every year the case is released in early November. Once it is released the team meets throughout December and January to prepare a case and arguments. Mock Trial is open to all ninth to twelfth graders. However, after Mr. Elder starts giving roles in December, there may not be a role for you, although you can always help the teams prepare or be an understudy. All you need is an interest in law and maybe some acting chops.

Once the case is out, the team divides into lawyers who put on the case, examine witnesses and create arguments, and witnesses who testify both in favor of and against the prosecution.

Cases are eventually tired in front of a real judge with a real jury at the Blair County Courthouse.

Mock trial is perfect if you want to be a lawyer or in law enforcement. In other words, Mock Trial is a lot of fun, and if you like shows like Law and Order or Bull, like to argue, and/or love to perform/act, Mock Trial has all of those things. Plus, colleges look highly on it.

Beyond that, the club improves speaking skills.

“This club helps me because before I joined I was nervous when speaking in front of crowds, but now I have the confidence to speak to nearly any size group of people,” said sophomore Brendan Andrews.

Another club member, Joey Rettig, commented, “I enjoy Mock Trial because I want to be a politician.”

When he was asked for advice for anyone who is interested in joining, Joey said, “ DO IT! We need members!”