NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact Doris Huffman
Executive Director
402/475-1042
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CHADRON HIGH SCHOOL CAPTURES
STATE MOCK TRIAL TITLE
Chadron High School has won the 2008 Nebraska High School State Mock Trial Championship Competition.
The Chadron team defeated a team from Skutt Catholic High School (Omaha) in the final round on December 9 to win the mock trial competition held at the Justice & Law Enforcement Center in Lincoln. The Honorable Lyle E. Strom, U.S. District Court Senior Judge, presided at the final round of the championship trials.
Members of the winning Chadron team are Mike Overstreet, Hanna Raymer, Kailas Ledbetter, MacKenzie Welch, Laine Branson, Maggie Darnell, Geoffrey Ledbetter, and Rhonda Elwess. The team’s teacher coach is Megan Williamson. Paul G. Wess and Vance E. Haug are the team’s attorney coaches.
In mock trial competition, students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a fictitious case. By participating in the mock trial process, students have the opportunity to improve their speaking, writing, reading and analytical skills while learning about the judicial system.
State of Nebraska vs. Chris Byrd is an original case written by a volunteer committee of Nebraska lawyers specifically for the Nebraska High School Mock Trial Project. It involves a parent being charged with providing liquor for a minor in conjunction with a graduation party given in honor of the defendant’s son.
Members of the second place team from Skutt Catholic High School are Erin Borchers, Rachel Kroon, Matt Meyer, Matt Judah, Joe Tucker, Will Gerber, Libby Crosbie, and Michael Judah. Mary Meyer is the team's teacher coach, and Patrick Borchers and Judy Borchers are the team's attorney coaches.
Taking third place in the championship competition was Ainsworth High School. Battle Creek High School was the fourth place winner. Other schools winning their regional competition and competing in the state championship received honorable mention. They are Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer, Kearney, Norris (Firth), North Platte, Perkins County (Grant), Papillion-La Vista, Scotus Central Catholic (Columbus), and Westside (Omaha).
The winning Chadron team will represent Nebraska in the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Atlanta, Georgia, in May 2009.
The Nebraska State High School Mock Trial Project is sponsored by the Nebraska State Bar Foundation and its State Center for Law-Related Education. Statewide, the project involves the participation of over 1,200 students and the volunteer efforts of more than 400 attorneys and judges who serve as attorney coaches, presiding judges and performance judges.
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