By Sydney Mann ’14 and Sivi Satchithanandan ’15, Staff Writers

“When our names were announced as country champions, we all erupted into a pure ecstasy and at that moment we knew we were the best,” notes Ethan Savel ’14 a witness for Newark Academy’s Mock Trial team, describing how the team won the Essex County Championship for the second year running.  Although the team lost in the second round of the regional tournament, NA’s Mock Trial continues to thrive and progress as a team.

This year’s fictional case of State of NJ v. Pat Hopper, dealt with issues of theft, burglary, and bias intimidation. NA’s defense team consisted of lawyers Christopher Davis ’12, Samantha Altschuler ’14 and witnesses Betsy Peinado ’15, Ruby Gould ’15, and Ethan Savel ’14. The prosecution side was made up of lawyers Loryn Hellfman ’12 and Trevor Williams ’13 alongside witnesses Emma Coffey ’14, Varan Satchithanandan ’12, and Charlotte Smith ’15.

In preparation for competition Mock Trial trained extensively.  Lawyer Samantha Altschuler ’14 explains that, “Lawyers meet for half an hour Monday, while the whole team meets for an hour every Wednesday.  We also spend 3 hours Friday and 4 hours Saturday practicing.  Trevor Williams and I were both responsible for writing opening statements for the prosecution and defense.”  Not only does Mock Trial prepare as a team, they also have Newark Academy alumni and parents work with the team as well.

The team this year had many strengths that helped them earn the title of County Champion–each team member had to interact with someone else on the opposing team requiring quick thinking. Their witty answers made opposing teams look inferior and gave NA the upper hand. Yet, there’s more to Mock Trial then just being smart. In addition, to make the jury sympathize with them, each witness and lawyer had to employ a certain amount of theatrical skills that helps them to embody their character. Dressing, talking and thinking as their character led to NA Mock Trial’s success at being able to grasp the reality as to whom they were portraying.

In addition to the team’s academic and theatrical success, the team was most successful due to the bond created between teammates.  When talking to witness Ethan Savel ’14 he described that,

“This group of people really forms together as an ‘academic’ team because all of the pieces have to fit together in one cohesive unit and everyone has to compete to their best ability.  This group of people really developed into a close-knit group and we really bonded because of the four days a week practice and the training preparing us for competition.  We all grew extremely close which factored into our success.”

He says that the best experience as a whole was “building a bond with 9 other kids at Newark Academy” while developing a “strong sense of how a trial proceeds and what actually occurs in them.”

Commenting on NA’s success, Mr. Hawk said “we have more and more kids join as freshmen and who build really strong skills, and we have a culture of really hard work.”  He is sure that NA can go even further in the future by  “continuing to refine skills, particularly the scrimmages and meetings with parent attorneys.”

This year’s case was about beginnings and endings, referring to Samantha Altschuler’s opening for the prosecution, which is true in the case of Pat Hopper but also about NA Mock Trial.  Newark Academy’s Mock trial began strong, and has ended on a great note.  We look forward to seeing what Mock Trial has to offer in the future.