Are there some future lawyers at La Jolla High School? Quite possibly there are.
A mock trial team from La Jolla High, under the direction of teacher Jewel Weien, is one of 25 teams that will travel to Oakland on March 23 to compete at the state level. The goal is to make it to the national competition this May in Dallas.
The La Jolla High team is mostly made up of girls, with nine of the 12 team members being female. One of the boys is the court artist, but he will be unable to go to Oakland with the team. The students on the team are active in speech and debate, academic league and math competitions.
“The mock trial team at La Jolla has been dormant for a few years,” Weien said. “This year the senior members wanted it back, so they asked me to sponsor them.”
The county competition was held late last month, and each mock trial team had to perform both as prosecution and defense. La Jolla High won the verdict the first evening of competition, but did not win the prosecution two days later. However, La Jolla’s points put the team in the final round, where the Vikings were the defense and won, becoming the county winners.
Team members include seniors Dasha Wise, Mai Yamaguchi, Sarah Sorenson, Kalvin Hom, Cindy Zhou and Marcus Wong. Junior members are Radhalila Reinhofer, Maryam Zafer, Alissa Koeppe, Yulia Zektser and Jennifer Chen. There is one freshman, Benjamin Cosman.
“All our campus clubs have to have a teacher sponsor,” Weien said. “I taught Dasha (Wise) when she was a sophomore and junior. She asked me if I would sponsor them, so I did. I really cannot take credit for the team’s accomplishment. They have worked hard, studied the case, worked with an attorney, Danielle Hickman, who volunteered to coach them.”
According to Weien, at their first trial when the judge found for the defense, the students were singled out for their knowledge of the case and how well the witnesses knew the details. They were also noted for being poised and appropriately assertive.
For those students interested in getting a taste of the law profession, Weien said all it takes is to be interested, to come to the meetings, to read and to prepare as an attorney or witness, and to practice.