The Bethel High School Mock Trial team has been successful so far in the competition. On November 13th, the team went to the Harvard University high school mock trial seminar. The team found the seminar very useful and plan to use their experience in the upcoming championship on December 14th.

Abdullah Hasan, a junior from the mock trial teams exclaims, “Our time at Harvard was extremely productive. While it was my second year there, I ascertained a great amount of knowledge that I along with the rest of the Mock Trial members will implement into our performances at our next competition. The seminar we attended included many lectures by Harvard students on the Harvard Mock Trial Team. These lectures included every aspect of the trial we argue. This seminar helped us a lot!”

Brian Michalka, a junior from the mock trial team also found the seminar very helpful: “It was an invaluable experience to be able to work with the Harvard students. They were all excellent public speakers who helped us improve our mock trial skills. Our entire team definitely benefited.”

Hasan is confident about the approaching championship. “For the competition on December 14th, I feel we have a great chance of going on to the next round. This year, Bethel has two teams competing, which greatly increases our chances in winning! Our coach, Mr. Barrett, is preparing us superbly to have both teams win our first round. I am sure we will definitely be able to with all that we just learned at Harvard and with all of the great team members we have! Additionally, we had a practice round at Yale University last month that was able to show our strengths and weaknesses which is great to implement into our practice for the actual round on December 14th!”

On October 30th, this team took first place at the Annual Yale High School Mock Trial Invitational Tournament.

Romana Pilepitch was selected for “Outstanding Attorney” and Petey Oneto was named “Outstanding Witness”. The second team finished with a 4-1 record. Junior Angelica Bonabeau earned top attorney honors while Abdullah Hasan, Meaghan Greene, and Alyssa Baily received honorable mentions.

The mock trial members are divided into two teams. One team consists of sophomores and freshmen including Romana Pilepitch, Aiden Ford, Maria Manolescu, Maria DeSimone and Rebecca Joseph, Justin Quader, Petey Oneto, Ricardo Pene, Chad Klinefelter, Dan Tuccironi, and Masudur Bhuiyan.

Although the Bethel High School mock trial team has had a fantastic record so far, the preparation required before each competition hard work and continuous research. The team will have to keep up their effort to take first place at the quickly approaching championship.