Sisters students participate in state mock trial tournament

Anticipation turned to excitement on February 28, as the Sisters High School Mock Trial team was told they had beat the reigning champs Summit High School, to advance to the state Mock Trial Tournament.

The Sisters High team then had just two weeks to prepare for the state tournament, to be held March 13-14 at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. District Courthouse in Portland.

The team also knew that even though they were district champions, they had a long, hard journey ahead of them.

"Competing against teams that are easily five or six times our size is no small feat. We knew we had to rise to that level and perform our best. That's a challenging proposition," said Mary Thomas, the Sisters High School Mock Trial coach. While many schools at the state level have half a dozen coaches or more, Sisters has just two, Thomas and retired Attorney Darryl Doke.

Doke, a Sisters resident, worked in the civil division of the California attorney general's office. He oversaw 34 counties in his service at the attorney general's office, and was the leader of the Civil Trial unit in Sacramento, California. Doke practiced law for 33 years and retired in 2006.

He says that Mock Trial has been "a wonderful experience. I am very thrilled and honored to be able to work with such a great group of kids and a great teacher, Mary Thomas."

Doke, according to Thomas, attended every day of practice and was fundamental to the success of the team. Thomas' experience in high-school-level instruction was instrumental to the team's success as well.

Mock Trial is funded and organized by the Classroom Law Project. Schools wishing to participate in the program pay $200 to receive the case, which can be either civil or criminal. This year's trial centered around a civil case. The mock plaintiff, Kelly Simon, is suing the Eastside School District, claiming that due to the school's negligence, her son died from using the illegal performance enhancing steroid EPO.

The state competition took place over two days, and involved the winners of districts from around the state. Sixteen of the 77 teams that competed at the district level made it to the state competition. Sisters High is a relative newcomer to the state competition; this is the second year they have attended.

On Friday afternoon, the Sisters team began their first of three rounds. St. Mary's Academy of Portland presented a strong and aggressive case, and Sisters battled to maintain their ground, as objections and testimonies hurled around the courtroom.

In this first round, the Sisters team represented the plaintiff.

The second and third rounds, held Saturday, also went well for the team. Opposing Grants Pass, the Sisters team played the role of the defense. Facing Pendleton in the third round, Sisters once again represented the plaintiff.

"No one really understands how much time and preparation Mock Trial takes - not even the parents or the student body," said Thomas. "Many people compete in sports, and Mock Trial is simply an academic variation of an athletic sport. The team competes with their minds, using critical thinking, writing and speaking skills. The students must always be thinking on their feet."

Full results of the competition, including those of Sisters, were not available at press time.

Already, the team is looking forward.

"We are already strategizing and planning. Because our team is mostly sophomores and juniors, we are really excited about next year, as we have so much potential to grow as a team," said Thomas.

The state team consisted of 13 students: Dawson Helms; Jake Lasken; Emi Conrads; Claire Kanzig; Benton Urquhart; Hayden Stein; Jordan Rudinsky; Trenton Kropf; Dylan Hicks; Ben Fullhart; Sam Fullhart; Erik Carlson; and Zander Albertson.