It’s a typical Friday morning at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School, but in a crowded courtroom downtown, a group of students are putting their skills to test in a battle of wits, strategy, and persuasion. With their arguments honed, the BBHHS mock trial team is ready to take on some of the best.
On Friday, February 7, the high school’s mock trial team competed in the regional competition after making their way through the district competition. These competitions are held downtown in various courtrooms where students compete against other schools to climb their way to the top.
The mock trial team consists of two smaller teams that each have certain roles for students to play based on the case presented. Unfortunately, team two did not advance to the regional competition, but according to Tim Adams, history teacher and club advisor, “They [team two] faced some stiff competition this year in districts.”
“I’d love to see some of next year’s seniors get a chance to compete in the state competition, we just came up a little short this year,” says Adams.
Peri Wisner, junior and vice president of mock trial, has been participating since her freshman year and loves what she does. “I like being able to help people with their work and watch things come together,” says Wisner.
This year’s case is Denver Saidi v Wyatt Latu and it takes place at Trillium High School. Saidi, principal of Trillium, files a lawsuit for defamation against Latu, a student of Trillium.
Tyler Lewicki, senior and attorney, played the plaintiff’s attorney, which meant he was the one suing the defendant. “I had to write a lot of things in ways that make sense and are convincing. The other hard part was I didn’t have co-counsel or someone helping me until about a month before the trial,” said Lewicki.
Lewicki is a first-year member of mock trial. Although he struggled some days, he remembered to just smile and have fun. “My favorite part of mock trial is the actual argument; the debate where I have my time to argue the facts that I gathered and worked sleepless nights. It was always a rewarding feeling when I crushed the other side with some of the points that my co-counsel and I worked hard to come up with,” said the first-year member.
Adams agrees with Lewicki. The whole process is rewarding. He says, “The courtroom battles are engaging and fun, and the students bring energy to their roles. The competitions create a team spirit, and it’s rewarding to see students succeed after months of preparation.”
“Since I am a senior this year, I will not be able to do it again next year. If you have any interest in law, do it. I want to go into law enforcement, but I was able to take away some cool things from this. Have some fun, learn some law, and look cool doing it by joining mock trial,” says the senior.
Overall, the BBHHS mock trial team did an outstanding job and put in so much work to advance to the regional competition. Way to go bees!
