Mock Trial Scrimmage

Mock Trial. What image do those two words conjure up in your mind? When I first heard them nearly a year ago, I imagined a dim room full of snobbish-looking folks pretending they were a court, debating in a quite stylized fashion. Ah, well. I was right that it happens in a room. No, Mock Trial has confounded my original expectations, is currently bursting all the seams of my comfort zone, and is cramming (and in all likelihood, will continue to cram) more information into my brain than I thought possible. Furthermore, it’s managed all this in a ridiculously interesting, exhilarating, and straight-out enjoyable manner. Mock Trial, if it’s one thing, is a horse of a different color. If another, it’s a sport.

Scrimmaging with the Cedar Tree Classical Christian School Mock Trial team last Thursday was no exception to the general Mock Trial trend. This is their first year of Mock Trial, and the scrimmage was arranged so they could take the plunge, so to speak, and experience what presenting in the courtroom is actually like. At the same time, our team would get valuable practice. However, their school is located in Washington, and thus they have a different case for regionals. So it fell upon our shoulders to prepare four witnesses and a host of attorney roles for a brand-new case: in seven days. (Oh, and everything had to be memorized.)

Interesting? Definitely. The case, like the one we are prepping for regionals, was a public nuisance lawsuit, in which a homeowners’ association out in the country sues the cattle ranch bordering their property, basically because it is smelly (and noisy and dirty). And besides, what isn’t interesting about a case involving a computer programmer, horse flies, seven-foot manure piles, and a fanatical HOA president named Javert (who keeps a pet cow)?

Exhilarating? Absolutely. Standing up to speak in front of 30 plus people who are either taking notes on your performance, attempting to discombobulate you, or just staring fixedly, is gloriously nerve-wracking. Yes, those two words can go together. Also, I rewrote my cross-examination on the drive up to Washington, watching the minutes until arrival tick relentlessly away on Mr. Barth’s GPS. That was exciting.

Enjoyable? Very. When it all boils down, the students at Cedar Tree are just the same as us: sons and daughters of the King. So the scrimmage was ultimately an opportunity – an opportunity for a big group of brothers and sisters to learn, be nervous, forge new friendships, and have heaps of fun together. Last Thursday, I think we did just that.