On March 27, the 8th grade Mock Trial Team from HTH attended the Long Island Mock Trial Tournament at Western Suffolk Community College and brought home two big wins in the categories of Defense and Performance!

During the tournament, middle school teams from across Long Island competed in “mock” courtroom trials; each group was given the same case to study, review and analyze over the course of the few months leading up to the competition. Each team was responsible for creating a group of “Prosecution” lawyers, “Defense” lawyers, and corresponding witnesses for each side – all played by the students. Our students wrote their own opening and closing statements, as well as questions for their witnesses. Witnesses fully immersed themselves in their characters, having to memorize every detail of their lengthy testimonies.

Our Prosecution team competed against Westhampton and our Defense group competed against the team from West Babylon Middle School – and we came away with a win! Our Defense team defeated West Babylon, winning the case with a verdict of “not guilty” for the mock aggravated assault charges, in addition to winning in the “performance” category as well - meaning that their portrayal of courtroom roles, procedures, and the level of accuracy for our witnesses earned the win in this area. Most importantly, the students truly enjoyed and took ownership of the process from start to finish - inspiring some to set goals of going into the legal field in the future!

Congratulations to our Mock Trial Team members on their well-deserved success: Ade Awe, Cameron Boating, Abigail Frederic, Marvell Daniels, Mmesoma Alozie, Kaylee Williams, Aidan Guilfoyle, Zhayden Tomlinson, Samore Seraphin, Kamally Grace, Natalie Severe, William Hillary and Jacob Sandoval.

Date Added: 4/1/2024