Philadelphia Area High Schools Compete In Mock Trial Competition
By Jim Melwert
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- High school students from a handful of Philadelphia-area schools will be in court in Harrisburg Friday and Saturday for the state championship of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's mock trial competition.
It started back in November, says Lower Moreland High social studies teacher and mock trial team coach John Haldeman, when the case materials are put out:
"The first two to three months are spent preparing the case," said Haldeman.
Haldeman says they get about 100 pages of documents just like a lawyer would use to build a case, then they present to a jury:
"For our trials the actual jurors are attorneys and they score everything based on a performance rubric," said Haldeman.
It starts with competitions then district and regional play-offs, then state championship weekend:
"As an educator you're always looking for authenticity and in terms of authentic assessment it doesn't get more real than this," said Haldeman.
Two other schools from the region will be taking part in the state championships: Devon Prep and Central Bucks South and Roman Catholic.