To Whom It May Concern,

We are writing on behalf of the Ann Arbor Community High School Mock Trial Team seeking any funds you would be willing to contribute to assist our team in traveling to the National Tournament. We recently won the Michigan State Tournament and are representing the state in the National Championship coming up in Wilmington, Delaware from May 2nd through May 5th. Unfortunately, since the school budget is tight, the members of our team and their families are shouldering the majority of the costs to travel and compete. We will be looking for donations through the month of April to help our team make it to the competition.

The Michigan High School Mock Trial Competition, which started in 1982, is sponsored by the Michigan Center for Civic Education. Every year, teams from throughout the state prepare a fictional criminal or civil case consisting of relevant case law and statutes, court documents, witness statements, and exhibits. Students compete in regional competitions in Washtenaw, Kent, Macomb, and Oakland to advance to the state finals, which are held in Lansing. The state finals this year were held on Saturday, March 23rd, and our A team won the 2024 Michigan High School Mock Trial State Championship. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the state of Michigan and to compete in the National High School Mock Trial Competition.

Mock Trial is an academic competition. At Community High School, we spend hours developing case theories, writing and practicing our opening and closing arguments, and direct and cross examinations. Our team is made up of nine students. Half of our team represents the defendant, and the other half represents the plaintiff. Each student is assigned the role of lawyer, witness, or lawyer and witness. In order to compete, each of us has to be prepared either to object or respond to the arguments made by the opposing team and to think on our feet as their case is laid out before us in competition.

Mock Trial has given us opportunities to develop a number of important skills: to work as members of a team, to be able to articulate difficult concepts, and to think critically and on our feet. The hours of preparation we put in each night at school and working both together and individually during our free time have reinforced the value that hard work and discipline are rewarding, and that good sportsmanship and integrity are qualities worth developing.

In the upcoming weeks, our team faces daunting challenges. While in the state competition we have nearly five months to prepare our case, we only have a month for the national tournament.

We must also raise over $15,000 to travel to and stay in Wilmington. While we will hold other fundraisers within our community, a tax-deductible donation of any amount would be a great help to us (and will allow our team members to focus on mastering our case material and honing our legal skills instead of spending the entire time asking for money!).

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Sam Austin

Abbi Bachman

Indigo Guikema

Leyla/Moose Gultekin

Isabella Jacob

Keegan Malestein

Serena O’Brien

Ari Taylor

Sylvie Zawacki

Chloe Root (Teacher Coach)