This year has included a tremendous change for the club, mainly because there were more underclassmen than in the previous years. Mock trial President Natasha White (12) says, “It’s a pretty young group this year, so we’ve had some issues about people not being as focused, so being able to overcome that was challenging. But people have been becoming very dedicated lately, so that helped us to be able to progress more.” Everyday after school, including weekends, hours are put into perfecting the scripts for witnesses, as well as attorney roles. Freshmen Michelle Park says, “Mock trial is way harder than I thought. You have to come in on Saturdays and practice your script and everything. You also have to memorize and know how to think on your feet.” Even though a lot of hard work is contributed, the students do have time to unwind. “I thought it was going to be very serious and that everyone is in serious mood all the time but we do have fun sometimes and joke when necessary,” states Park.
With nationals in Indianapolis coming up in less than a week, the veteran team has no time to waste on the new case. Mock trial Advisor Fred Ito says, “Our practices/scrimmages/draft sessions are six days a week. It’s a major time commitment. The actual competition is during AP exams, so the students are sacrificing a lot to do this.” We wish the team the best of luck and also a special thanks to attorney coaches David Suzuki and Brian Kang. Good luck Moanalua!
article reprinted from Na Hoku O Moanalua, MoHS Newspaper.
