8 school teams facing off in mock trial competition

Eight public and private high schools in the CNMI will be facing off this week in the 11th annual CNMI High School Mock Trial Competition for the chance to represent the Commonwealth at the National High School Mock Trial Competition in Atlanta, Georgia in May.

These include Grace Christian Academy, Saipan International School, Marianas Baptist Academy, Mount Carmel School, Marianas High School, Saipan Southern High, Rota Junior High, and Tinian Junior/Senior High School.

Organized by the CNMI Bar Association, the competition aims to promote and further the understanding and appreciation of the judicial system, court procedures, and the legal system.

It also aims to promote better communications and cooperation between the legal and educational communities, improve awareness of current social and legal issues, as well as provide an educational event to support students of all abilities and varying interests.

The first round of the competition will begin on March 6 at 9am while team advancement rounds will take place on March 7 at 8:30am.

Winning team will qualify to represent the CNMI in the National High School Mock Trial Competition, to be held in Atlanta, Georgia in May 2009.

Karen Klaver, coordinator for the event, stated in a letter to school teams that with eight teams competing, each team will participate in rounds 1 to 3. Each team will have a chance to present prosecution and defense at least once.

“We expect each round to last approximately two hours. In the past, some rounds have taken up to three hours,” she told school teams.

On Saturday, Klaver said two teams will compete in the championship round and advancement to this championship round will be based on the accumulation of ballots from Friday’s competition.

“After round 3, we will tabulate the results and determine which teams will advance to the championship round,” she said, adding that announcement of the two teams that will compete in the championship round will made at the dessert banquet on Friday night at Charley’s in PIC.

The CNMI High School mock trial program was started 10 years ago by the late Justice Ramon G. Villagomez when he was the president of the CNMI Bar Association. The program has continued as a volunteer effort, thanks to dedicated attorneys, teachers, judges, justices and students in the CNMI.

The competition will be held at the Guma Hustisia’s Superior and Supreme Courts on Friday and Saturday this week.

The Mount Carmel School team won last year’s mock trial tilt and represented the CNMI in the national competition in Delaware.