Showing posts with label mock trial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mock trial. Show all posts

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Franklin High School Mock Trial Team Competes in Elite 8

Superintendent Lucas Giguere, Principal Joshua Hanna and Assistant Principal Michael Walsh are excited to share that Franklin High School's Mock Trial Team competed in the state's Elite 8 trial at the Moakley Courthouse in Boston. 

The team of about 30 students is led by team captains Anton Sackley, Jacob Bowser, Carolina Rawan, Ahan Shetty and Liana Warnakulasooriya.

Street Law and AP Government teacher Johnna MacLean serves as the club's faculty advisor with help from Franklin native Andrew Kepple, who is the Assistant Clerk Magistrate at the Southeast Housing Court.



The team secured a spot at the Regional Trials after winning three trials in a row. Then, the team advanced to the Fab14 and secured eighth place, advancing the team to the Elite 8 trial on Tuesday, March 12*.

Franklin High School competed in this trial against Dover-Sherborn High School, Newton South High School, The Winsor School, Gann Academy, Malden Catholic High School, St. John's Preparatory High School, and Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School. 

"The team's work ethic and professionalism were remarkable," Superintendent Lucas Giguere said. "They've arrived to competitions with victory in mind," he said. 

This year's case is Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Maiyer Wahl, which is a criminal trial, and the team had to prepare both prosecution and defense roles. Their side of the case was only revealed on the day of the trial. The team performed outstandingly but lost by one point to Pioneer Valley, with a score of 101-100.

In addition to their successes this season, the Franklin Hill School Mock Trial team has had a history of impressive wins. Franklin High School has been to the Final Four round three times in the team's history and to the State Finals in 2019. 

"The students have thoroughly prepared for their trials, and their hard work has paid off," MacLean said. "We made it to the top eight out of 111 teams this season and I'm incredibly proud!"

* Updated via Principal Josh Hanna, the team lost by 1 point on Tuesday, March 12.

Monday, October 24, 2022

Pantherbook: Spotlight Story - Mr. Walsh

Katie Barrow writes this "spotlight story" on Mr. Walsh.  

"Q: How many years have you been teaching at Franklin High?
A: 26 years

Q: Why did you want to become a teacher?
A: Mr. Walsh loves getting to talk about history and politics as his job and became a teacher because he loves teaching about this material"
 
Continue reading the spotlight story online -> 

Mr. Walsh teaches US History II and AP Gov.
Mr. Walsh teaches US History II and AP Gov.

Monday, September 12, 2022

Pantherbook: Like to Argue? Join Mock Trial!

A regular feature we like to share is that of the output by the Pantherbook team at Franklin High School. This is one of the first piece for the new school year and talks about one of the successful clubs at FHS - Mock Trial. 

"Like to argue? Enjoy public speaking? Interested in law or acting? If so, Mock Trial is the club for you! 

First, what is Mock Trial?

Mock Trial is one of the most successful and competitive clubs at FHS. It simulates trials using fictitious cases, typically made by the Mass Bar Association, that change every year. There are two types of cases: civil and criminal. Also, there are two main roles for club members: Attorneys and Witnesses.

The attorney is in charge of creating a line of questioning that is either helpful to the witness (or not helpful, if the attorney is opposing the witness.) If the attorney is opposing the witness, they would be recognized as a Cross Attorney, and the Attorney on the witness’s side would be considered a Direct Attorney. Members of the club with a witness role will be given a person in the trial to play. This role will align with the affidavit also given, which the club member should know very well. "
Continue reading about the FHS Mock Trial Team as written by 

 

The Mock Trial Team after their Intrasquad Scrimmage in Spring 2022. (Mr. Perkins  photo)
The Mock Trial Team after their Intrasquad Scrimmage in Spring 2022. (Mr. Perkins  photo)


Tuesday, March 22, 2022

FHS Mock Trial - public scrimmage - March 24, 2022

The successful FHS Mock Trial team is holding a public scrimmage Thursday evening, March 24, 2022 from 6:30 to 8 PM at the FHS Library.

FHS Mock Trial - public scrimmage - March 24, 2022
FHS Mock Trial - public scrimmage - March 24, 2022

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/fhspanthertv/status/1505937578075344897

Saturday, March 6, 2021

Pantherbook: Mock Trial Team advances to Sweet 16

"Congrats to the Mock Trial team for their victory over a brilliant Wayland team yesterday, 105-104. Both schools' coaches called it the most epic battle either had ever seen. With the win, Franklin advanced to the statewide Sweet 16 of the Mock Trial Tournament's "March Madness."


"The following Mock Trial students earned exemplary scores yesterday: Nipun Goel, Akash Shetty, Pratusha Nouduri, Erin McCaffrey, Nihara Lijan, Paris Arffa, Charlene Peng, and Matthew Parrella."

 

Pantherbook: Mock Trial Team advances to Sweet 16
Pantherbook: Mock Trial Team advances to Sweet 16


Thursday, February 25, 2021

Mock Trial Prosecution Team tops Hingham

Pantherbook (@FHSPantherbook) tweeted on Wed, Feb 24, 2021:

Congrats to the Mock Trial Prosecution team which defeated Hingham yesterday 105-96.  
Every performer yesterday earned an exemplary score: Katie Rabovsky, Carrie Rawan, Derek Halet, Aadit Bhatia, Grace Newton, Akash Shetty, Dom Sackley, Anton Sackley, and Ankit Boruah.


Thursday, March 5, 2020

FHS Mock Trail team ends run in Final 16; Cheerleaders are Hockomock Champions

Catching up to provide two other FHS updates:
  • The Mock Trial team made it to the final 16 this year before ending their season
  • The FHS Cheerleaders won the Hockomock League Championships

https://twitter.com/MockWalsh/status/1234191235268694017?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/MockWalsh/status/1234237835034669057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/FHScheer_/status/1234197191532728320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw





2020 Hockomock Champs!! pic.twitter.com/8DUAFl51kF
2020 Hockomock Champs!! pic.twitter.com/8DUAFl51kF

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

Inside the FHS Mock Trial Team's historic advance to the Finals

Each year, the Mass. Bar Association sponsors our statewide competition. They create a fictitious fact pattern. This year's case was a criminal case centered around a police officer's use of deadly force. The charges were brought under federal law as a civil rights violation. 

Teams had to explore and present on issues concerning whether the police officer's use of deadly force was objectively reasonable and if not, whether the excessive force was willful. Each side, Prosecution and Defense, has three witnesses. Attorneys must prepare direct and cross examination questions and an Opening Statement and Closing Argument.

Essentially, the entire season is one long single-elimination tournament. The 132 participating schools are placed into 32 geographical regions. In these preliminary trials, two schools face off in local courtrooms. Each school is told in advance which side they will play. This year, each of our preliminary round trials were extremely close. Franklin emerged as the Regional representative to the next round, which was held at Clark University on March 3.

From that point on, schools do not know which side they will represent until 15 minutes before the match. The two schools are told to meet in an assigned room and flip a coin. The winner of the coin toss decides which side they want to play. Interestingly, Franklin lost the coin toss every time.

This year, Franklin advanced to the Finals for the first time in school history. We were the last public school left in the tournament. The state Finals are held each year at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston. A three-judge panel adjudicates the trial. Franklin lost to the Winsor School, which has won the championship five out of the past eight years.

The FHS Mock Trial Team Roster is shown below. Giving a big shout out to the attorney coach, Mike Doherty.  The team also had help along the way from Rep. Jeffrey Roy and one of Mike Doherty's associates, Attorney Andrew Kepple.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bnvsjoEStLVQi2H0OKDoS1krq6lm0HDF/view?usp=sharing





FHS Mock Trial Team at Fanuel Hall
FHS Mock Trial Team at Fanuel Hall (@MockWalsh photo)

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

"Both the elite eight and final four rounds will take place on Friday"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
"The Franklin High School Mock Trial Team will make its case to be one of the state's top teams at a competition later this week. 
The team has advanced to the "elite eight" of the Massachusetts Bar Association's high school mock trial tournament, and will take part in the next round at the Worcester County Courthouse on Friday. 
FHS teacher Michael Walsh, one of the team's coaches, said this represents one of the school's furthest forays into the competition, though it has reached the final four once before. 
"We're pretty excited about it," he said. "I believe strongly that it is an excellent educational program."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170314/fhs-mock-trial-team-competes-against-top-schools

FHS Mock Trail Team for 2016-2017 (Pantherbook photo)
FHS Mock Trail Team for 2016-2017 (Pantherbook photo)

Monday, March 6, 2017

FHS Mock trail, Drama Club, Cheer and Track team weekend results

Franklin High School had a busy weekend competing in something other than basketball and hockey. 

  • The Drama Club got an award for their production of "The Giver" and "Gathering Blue"
  • Mock Trail Team won twice to make it to the Elite 8
  • Varsity Cheer took second place in the regionals and moves on the State meet
  • FHS Girls Track and Field set a school record in the 4x800 to take 3rd in New England. Halle Atkinson also took a 4th place in the 300M run

Did I miss something?

Via the Twitterverse



Semi Finals here we come!!
Semi Finals here we come!!






So proud of our mockers,who won the afternoon trial & advanced to the Elite 8! Pocket constitution to @KatyySmithh22
So proud of our mockers,who won the afternoon trial & advanced to the Elite 8! Pocket constitution to











Monday, February 6, 2017

“I’m really excited going into our first few trials"

From Pantherbook, the FHS news site, comes this article on the Mock Trial Team
"Each year the team is assigned a “Case Packet” which consists of affidavits and other documents to make a case for both the prosecution as well as the defense. 
This year the case is based around a war veteran who comes back home, only to end up shooting and killing his/her enemy from high school. The war veteran is played by Catherine Smith who will be performing for the team on Wednesday. 
“I am very excited and anxious for our first trial on Wednesday. I can’t wait to see how all of our hard work plays out” states senior, Alexander Sinks. 
There will be six students representing Franklin High School as an attorney, and three students representing the school as a witness, while the teams Prosecution will be there to cheer the team on. 
On Wednesday February 8th, the team’s Prosecution will be performing against Bellingham High School."
Continue reading about the Mock Trial Team online
http://franklinpanthers.us/top-stories/2017/01/31/meet-the-mock-trial-team/

The Mock Trial Team did win their first case last week:


FHS Mock Trail Team for 2016-2017
FHS Mock Trail Team for 2016-2017 (Pantherbook photo)


Tuesday, March 17, 2015

FHS Mock Trial and Drama Club advance

While the winter sports teams have completed their season at FHS, two other teams are continuing to advance.

1 - The Mock Trial team has made it to the Final Four for the 1st time!


auditorium at the new FHS
auditorium at the new FHS


 2 - The Drama Club has made it to the Semifinals


The Franklin High School drama club has moved on to the semi-finals at a drama festival with their play Rebel Without A Cause. 
The Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild holds a festival for high school plays every year, and this year it was held at Attleboro High School on Saturday, Feb. 28. During the festival, Franklin High School’s drama club was chosen along with three other schools to move on to the semifinal round.

See more at: http://pantherbook.org/news/school-news/2015/03/16/semifinals-are-right-around-the-corner/#sthash.Hx6O4bEG.dpuf

Thursday, March 6, 2014

In the News: Oscar trip, mock trial, former astronaut


After a whirlwind weekend of limos, glimpses of celebrities, an awards dinner and even taking a twirl around Ellen DeGeneres’ studio, Franklin’s Karen Purvis said she still can’t believe it all happened. 
“It was absolutely amazing, I was really in awe,” Purvis said on Wednesday after she returned from a weekend in Los Angeles attending the Oscars.

Read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140306/NEWS/140307918


Wayland and Franklin high schools are among the 16 named regional finalists in the 29th annual High School Mock Trial Program presented by the Massachusetts Bar Association. 
The "Sweet 16" teams will now compete in trials this week. Eight winners will emerge and compete next week for a chance to reach the Final Four semifinal elimination round, where four teams will compete during trials held simultaneously on March 20 in Boston and Worcester.

Read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140305/NEWS/140308057


Former astronaut Susan Kilrain spoke to Dean College students.
Throughout her presentation, at times thrilling and funny, Kilrain had the more than 100 people in Dean’s Campus Center rapt. Speaking with a Southern drawl, she walked them through every detail of her second mission to space in July 1997. 
As she closed, her message to students was concise and, she admitted, cheesy: shoot for the stars and strive to do what you love. 
"Do what your passionate about, but keep it realistic," she said.

Read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140306/NEWS/140307920

Friday, February 28, 2014

In the News: mock trial, new scholarships

Relevant items for Franklin from the Milford Daily News edition today:
Students from several MetroWest towns are among the 1,500 high schoolers from across the state participating in the 29th annual Mock Trial Program this winter. 
Presented by the Massachusetts Bar Association, the tournament-style competition, which began Jan. 21, puts high school teams in a simulated courtroom to try a pre-selected case, which this year centers on a stunt plane accident. The plaintiff in the case, the child of a pilot killed in a plane crash at an air show, alleges the defendant, the plane manufacturer, failed to design the aircraft up to specifications to save money. The company argues the pilot’s own negligence caused the plane’s wing to be sheared off during a maneuver.
Franklin High School has a team participating in this. You can read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140227/NEWS/140226434/1994/NEWS


The Franklin High School Class of 1972 and 1973 will donate $1,500 toward the creation of a scholarship in memory of Lexi and Sean Munroe. 
The alumni raised the money from their 40th reunion, held last fall. The School Committee will formally accept the donation next month. 
Assistant Superintendent Sally Winslow, a member of the class, said the one-time scholarship would go to a high school student who attended Davis Thayer Elementary School.
The reunion raised money for two scholarships. You can read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140228/NEWS/140226347

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Massachusetts Bar Association's 28th annual Mock Trial Program

In Franklin and elsewhere around MA, some classrooms turn to court rooms as the Mock Trail sessions get underway.
Area high schools competing include Algonquin Regional, Acton-Boxborough, Bellingham, Dover-Sherborn, Framingham's Marian High, Franklin, Holliston, Hopedale, Hopkinton, Maynard, Medfield, Milford, Natick, St. John's of Shrewsbury, Gann Academy of Waltham, and Wayland. 
In this year's criminal case, the prosecution alleges the defendant poisoned and killed his great-aunt by tampering with her medication. The defense claims the great-aunt either died of a natural heart attack or was murdered by either her live-in caretaker or another relative upset about her reduction of their inheritance.

Read more: Local high schools compete in Mock Trial - Franklin, MA - Wicked Local Franklin http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1503800200/Local-high-schools-compete-in-Mock-Trial#ixzz2I2SIBuWm

For more about the Mock Trial program  http://mocktrial.massbar.org/

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Franklin played the defense


“It really hit me about halfway through the trial that no matter the outcome, we proved we belonged,” the team’s coach and high school teacher Michael Walsh wrote in an email yesterday. “When (Franklin student) John Wiech succeeded in blocking admission of the Plaintiff’s key piece of evidence, it was some of the finest argumentation I have seen in 14 years of mock trial.”

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x770708198/Franklin-mock-trial-team-falls-to-ex-champs#ixzz1ozHEDPEF

Related posts:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/01/in-news-library-mock-trial.html

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2010/02/franklin-mock-trial-team-beats.html

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/03/franklin-takes-down-boston-latin-in.html



Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Franklin takes down Boston Latin in mock trial competition

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Alison McCall/Daily News staff on 3/6/12

phoMDmocktrial2_0306.jpg
After a bitter loss to Boston Latin School in last year's mock trial competition, Franklin High's team got the sweet taste of redemption yesterday, defeating Latin and advancing in the tournament

Things you can do from here:

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Franklin, Newton students make Mock Trial 'Sweet 16'

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc. on 3/5/12

Franklin High School and Newton South High School have advanced to the "Sweet 16'' regional finals in the 27th annual Massachusetts Bar Association Mock Trial competition.

Things you can do from here:

Monday, January 23, 2012

In the News: library, mock trial



Medway to consider hiring full-time library director

“We have teams (in this region) that are always strong,” Michael Walsh, Franklin’s mock trial team coach said. “Hopedale, Bellingham, Milford. They’re always really, really strong so that makes it challenging.”