ARLINGTON — Students from Marysville and Arlington received a hands-on lesson in real-life lawyering through the YMCA’s Mock Trial program.
A group from Arlington High School, Post Middle School and the Stillaguamish Valley School were joined by eighth-graders from the 10th Street School in Marysville.
The middle school students took part in practice rounds with the high schoolers at the Arlington Public Works Building Feb. 26, before the Arlington students moved onto district competition at the Whatcom County Courthouse Feb. 28.
10th Street social studies teacher Eric Hanson explained that all the school’s eighth-grade students devote a full quarter to Mock Trial, even though they can’t officially compete.
“It teaches them logic and reason in ways that nothing else can,” Hanson said. “Because there’s a limit to how much you can plan for the other students’ reactions, you have to know the legal system and your teammates to respond in real time.”
Hanson sees Mock Trial as a means of countering the ideas they might have acquired about the courts system from TV or movies.
“Before we even start Mock Trial, we cover U.S. history and civics, and the Constitution and the rule of law,” Hanson said. “The cases would have no real relevance to them without that context.”
Sheri Kelly and Monica Strom served as co-advisors of the Arlington School District’s Mock Trial team, which included one student from Post and four each from AHS and SVS.
Kelly explained that the student lawyers honed their strategies with attorney-coach Walt Potebnya, while Strom prepared the student witnesses on a one-on-one basis. She enjoyed watching the students’ tensions from their practice sessions fade during tournaments, and welcomed the feedback they received from the adults involved, including real-life judges.
Kelly admitted that she doesn’t have a law background, so she was especially gratified to see students, including her eighth-grade daughter MacKenna, developing a better understanding of the legal process.
“It can be hard to work with other team members when you cross-examine them,” MacKenna said. “I liked that I didn’t use any notes during my opening statement. I’ve made a lot of progress from last year, when I did my first year as an attorney.”
Strom credited this year’s team with meeting twice a week, for two hours at a time, in addition to clocking an average of 112 hours each at home.
While this made it difficult for her son, Andrew, to balance football with class assignments, Strom saw all the students gain confidence over time.
“As the year goes on, they learn to articulate better, stand taller and develop critical listening skills,” Strom said. “When you can do those three things, it becomes easier to present yourself to the world. Some students find a love for the law, some find a great way to exercise their love of theater, but all learn how important our words are.”
The Arlington team tied for second at districts.
“This was a transition year for our program, with new coaches, and we all did so much better than I even hoped,” Strom said. “There’s a lot of great, hardworking and driven teenagers in our community.”
Andrew added: “We can do all this; hold part-time jobs, get good grades, play sports and be into computer games. We are a generation that can get it all done.”
