The Fletcher High School Mock Trial Team will head to the State High School Competition in Orlando this week to represent the Fourth Circuit.
Teams compete in all of the 21 circuits and Fletcher defeated Bolles Feb. 12 to move on to the Thursday-Saturday statewide competition.
The Foley & Lardner firm contributed a $4,000 sponsorship for the team to make the trip.
“It’s an exciting time. With the recent budget cuts in schools, it’s good to see Foley & Lardner step up and help keep this program going,” said Amber Rumancik, an attorney with the Foley & Lardner firm. She coaches the team.
Fletcher High School Mock Trial adviser Ed Lange will take a team consisting of Betsy Lin, Jasmine Arnott, Antonio Gansley-Ortiz, Corinne Murrell, Monica Wall, Katie Shapiro, Elsa Juall and Kate Moss to the competition.
Students simulate the roles of attorneys and witnesses in a fictional trial and need to be prepared to argue for either the defense or the prosecution.
The teams will argue a criminal case with allegations of cyberbullying and aggravated battery.
“One of the toughest parts of the competitions is perfecting your argument. You are always working on something and it can be difficult to decide what you need to take away or add,” said Shapiro.
Being involved in the mock trial competition isn’t always about the practice of law.
“One of my favorite parts of being involved in mock trial is being a part of a team and associating with people I may not have normally,” said Gansley-Ortiz, who wants to be a judge.
Not all of the members want to pursue a law career. Concert pianist, doctor and copy editor for a publishing company were some of the other desired career paths for members of the team, but they all think the experience will help them,
“Even if we don’t go into law, you really do learn skills of how to present something in a precise way,” said Wall.
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