What is Mock Trial? It simulates a real court case, allowing participants to assume the roles of lawyers, witnesses, and other court personnel to learn about the legal process. Students on the team are assigned a role or position then they perform that role in a courtroom with a local attorney as the judge, competing against other local schools. There hasn’t been been one at Walkersville High School for quite a while, but Coach Katherine Keilholtz revived the Mock Trial program last year, and the club has grown under her guidance.
This year Walkersville’s Mock Trial team won three of their trials with Lawyer Jordan Bosco winning the All-Star Frederick County Attorney award at the end of the season. Bosco says, “Being on the Mock Trial team the past two years has given me a new perspective on how challenging and important the legal field is, and winning the awards I have, has only been a product of the long hours spent working side by side with every person on the team, and I’m grateful for all of their sacrifices”.
Mrs. Keilholtz is a Social Studies teacher and has used her background in US history to better prepare her team. She is assisted by her father who is a retired police officer. Mrs. Keilholtz says, “As a student I participated in Mock Trial for all four years, and we won counties my junior year. When I came to WHS and I heard we didn’t have a team I immediately went to Dr. Ware to start one.” With her experience and determination she was able to pull together a great team of students. She spoke about how she is looking forward to the future and has high hopes for the Mock Trial team: “I’m glad we started the team because there is a lot of talent here, and I’m excited to see where it goes”.
How It Works
In high school students can sign up to join the Mock Trial club and will be assigned a tryout date. You will try out as either a lawyer or witness and will be assigned a role based on your performance at tryouts. You are then given the case booklet for the season and will learn your assigned role like the back of your hand. Every team will have both a plaintiff and defense. Witnesses have to take on a whole new persona while lawyers must learn how they will approach questioning their witness and the opposing team’s witness.
Mock Trial at Walkersville is more of a team competition than just a club. Once you are in, you will attend practices three times a week. At first you only focus on learning your role and the details of your person. As a witness you must learn every detail from the case booklet; you must know your affidavit like you truly wrote it yourself. Lawyers will work together to find the best approach for each of their cross examinations. You will do what a lawyer does when you are sifting through evidence that can benefit you and writing up different lines of questioning. Once everyone has their bearings, you will begin practicing against your own team. You will be critiqued and criticized, and you adjust accordingly. Soon your court dates will approach, and you will be preparing to compete against another school.
Court days are the reason you join the club. There is nervous energy in the air and a competitive tone that takes everyone over. You will go to the Frederick County Courthouse and take your places behind the bench and behind your lawyers. The judge will enter the courtroom and you will all rise and wait to be told to be seated. You will then proceed with the order in the courtroom you were taught in practice. By the end you will be given a verdict and which team won. You will also receive a score from the judge and be able to review that with your team. Although it is the same case every time, each team approaches the case differently so you still need to act on your toes as a lawyer and witness.
Mock Trial is not only a club but also a team. You build relationships with your teammates and spend hours of your week working together to win. Though sometimes you might not see the outcome you hope for, every second spent working together is worth it.
