Preparing for Success
Donation protected
Hello all, I teach in a public high school in Brooklyn, New York for low-income students who have been classified as needing full-time special education services. My school has no outside activities for students to participate in, and this year I decided to change that by creating a Mock Trial team. While this process has not been easy, it has also been incredibly rewarding to see my students grow and mature as they learn what it truly means to be committed to something.
For those that don't know, Mock Trial is a competitive, high-school program where students learn a legal case, become the lawyers & witnesses for the defense and prosecution, and compete against other high schools. For almost all of my students, this is the first time they have been engaged in such an activity, and learning the proper language and decorum of the courtroom as well as their respective roles has really been a challenge. We have worked through it though, and it is almost time for us to compete.
As a part of the competition process, we will go to the Courthouse to compete twice, once as the prosecution and once as the defense. Part of presenting our case is looking the part, dressing in professional business attire. Of the 11 students on our team, only 3 of them have clothes they can wear and none have proper dress shoes. I need help purchasing professional attire for my students so that when they enter the courtroom they look just as professional and prepared as students from other schools.
The money from this project will go towards purchasing pant/skirt suits, shirts and dress shoes for my students. If there is money left over, I would like to purchase my students a commemorative sweatshirt or other item so they always have a reminder of what it feels like to commit to something and find success. My students often find it difficult to commit to an activity because more often than not, it does not end in success. This Mock Trial team has been an opportunity to show them otherwise and to hopefully prepare them for the world of successes that lay ahead. Thank you for helping me to help them see their potential.
Best,
Ms. Sapin
For those that don't know, Mock Trial is a competitive, high-school program where students learn a legal case, become the lawyers & witnesses for the defense and prosecution, and compete against other high schools. For almost all of my students, this is the first time they have been engaged in such an activity, and learning the proper language and decorum of the courtroom as well as their respective roles has really been a challenge. We have worked through it though, and it is almost time for us to compete.
As a part of the competition process, we will go to the Courthouse to compete twice, once as the prosecution and once as the defense. Part of presenting our case is looking the part, dressing in professional business attire. Of the 11 students on our team, only 3 of them have clothes they can wear and none have proper dress shoes. I need help purchasing professional attire for my students so that when they enter the courtroom they look just as professional and prepared as students from other schools.
The money from this project will go towards purchasing pant/skirt suits, shirts and dress shoes for my students. If there is money left over, I would like to purchase my students a commemorative sweatshirt or other item so they always have a reminder of what it feels like to commit to something and find success. My students often find it difficult to commit to an activity because more often than not, it does not end in success. This Mock Trial team has been an opportunity to show them otherwise and to hopefully prepare them for the world of successes that lay ahead. Thank you for helping me to help them see their potential.
Best,
Ms. Sapin
Organizer
Olivia Leigh
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY