Mock trial team shows great improvement

After a second year of competition, Central White, one of the two mock trial teams at Central, was selected to compete at the regional competition. The team already competed in three preliminary competitions. They defeated Mount Micheal White and Creighton Prep White, but lost to Mercy Gold. On Wednesday November 6, they also competed against Prep Blue in the regional competition.  

Jaden Tchalassi, sophomore, is a member of the Central White team. He said, “I was ecstatic to make it to regionals. To be honest, I never believed we would make it this far. I thought this year would be more of learning year for Central, since we are still new to the competition.”  

Jaden Tchalassi, sophomore, Milla Krainak, sophomore, and Sedona Cheloha, junior, are all witnesses for the Central White team. This means they act as one of the witnesses being questioned in the court case. Claudia Richwine, junior, Malcolm Durfee-O’Brien, junior, and Cormac O’Brien, senior, are all lawyers on the team, meaning they ask the witnesses questions, competed opening and closing statements, and make objections. Vanessa Amoah, junior, is the alternate and time keeper for the team.  

The team is looking forward to competing at the regional competition. They know they have a lot of work left to do, but are also confident in what they have done.  

Richwine said, “One thing we have done consistently well is opening and closing statements. The witnesses are very good at knowing their parts as well. One thing we have not done the best is confidence. We just need to work on being confident in ourselves.” 

Everyone on the team joined for different reasons. However, everyone agrees that so far they have had an amazing time while competing and practicing mock trial. Some people joined because they want to be a lawyer and other people joined because they thought it looked like an interesting opportunity.  

Tchalassi said, “I joined for 3 main reasons. One because it would allow me to make connections outside of school that could benefit me later in life. Two, because mock trial is nationally known, having that on my resume and applications would help me a lot. Three, I joined because I was interested in law and becoming an attorney. And because in high school there is very few things you can do to see if that is something that you really want to do. Mock Trial was one of the best ways to immerse myself within that field.” 

Richwine joined because she wanted try something new. She said, “I joined mock trial originally because I was, more than anything, curious. I was raised on crime shows and my sister had gotten a bachelor’s in criminal justice, so I’ve always been interested in things like law (especially criminal law, which is something else that initially drew me in about the case file). I wanted to try something new, and it payed off in a big way.” 

Central Purple, the other mock trial team, won one of three preliminary competitions. This team consists of Cassandra Sorensen, sophomore, Simret Habte, junior, Anna Harris, junior, Hannah Green, junior, Leonardo Risch, junior, Elana Elder, freshman, Grace Turner, junior, and Taegen Swanson, junior.  

Both Richwine and Tchalassi highly recommend that anyone interested in law, criminal justice, or just want a new experience join mock trial. Tchalassi said, “Anyone who enjoys theatrics, arguing, debating, critical thinking/analysis, and/or law should join mock trial. You won’t regret it.”