Mendham Students Head To Court For Mock Trial Event

MENDHAM, NJ — As a way of giving students hands-on experience of what can occur in court proceedings, Mendham Township Middle School eighth graders recently participated in a mock trial.

The students, according to a news release from the school, simulated two court cases at their school, with students taking various customary roles from within a courtroom. Some were plaintiffs, others defendants. They were juries, lawyers and witnesses, some playing expert witnesses.

Within their mock courtroom itself, students were court administrators and also judges, in several different trials they reproduced.

In their mock trials, students had the chance to try out different roles within the courtroom and were congratulated for their performances on the school’s Instagram page.

Language Arts Teacher Sara Cyr, according to her bio on the school's website, who has been a teacher at the Middle School since 2010, introduced the mock trial program into the middle school’s curriculum. She was given a Best Practice award while teaching at Montville High School from the governor, for the mock trial program she developed.

As well as learning more about the different roles involved in trials, Cyr said students reviewed case documents and then came equipped to the mock trial with oral arguments, based on what side of the case they were asked to represent. Part of the excitement was the student opportunity to cross-examine witnesses during their proceedings.

“The engagement by students is phenomenal as a healthy sense of competition is balanced with playing by the rules,” Cyr said. “Winning fairly is important to these students.”

In a Facebook post from the Mendham Township School District on Tuesday, the district thanked Cyr, middle school Media Specialist Melanie Smith in her role for gathering the facts about the cases for the students and Technology Teacher Donna Casagrande for her support with the audio and virtual access during the mock trials.

Questions or comments about this story? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.