Freedom students attended Mock Trial Boot Camp on Thursday, October 30 at Riverside High School to practice their debating. Mock Trial is a program where students go to imitate a courtroom. These students act as witnesses, defendants, attorneys, and jury members. The Riverside Beaver County High School Mock Trial Team studies a story and creates a case for that story. Then the students who attend the Mock Trial Boot Camp are divided up into two groups, the Defense and Prosecution. Each group studies the case and conducts a trial. The judge listens to both sides and the jury chooses which side was the most convincing.

“My favorite part of mock trial is being a witness and answering questions. The hardest part is researching the case. My favorite role is definitely being a witness because you get to talk to your attorney and plan the questions,” Lincoln Murphy (8) said. 

Two students this year won an award when they attended Mock Trial. First, was Lincoln Hoover (7), who won best advocate with a score of 6.8 out of 8. And second, was Lincoln Murphy (8), who won best witness. He played the role of The Big Bad Wolf.

“This was the fourth year that we went. I like seeing people take on roles that they didn’t think they would be able to do and then have fun and do a great job with presenting that role in front of their peers,” Mrs. Miller, gifted coordinator, said. “I like them to learn the process of a trial, even if they don’t participate in Mock Trial in the future, because it is important to know how a criminal trial works. Ultimately, it would be nice to have a Mock Trial team of our own at the high school.”