On Feb. 21 and 22, the Oak Park High School mock trial team competed in its annual Ventura County competition.
Both varsity and junior varsity teams placed in the top eight of the competition, advancing to the next round of the tournament set to take place on Feb. 28 and 29 at the Ventura County Courthouse.
“We have two teams, our senior team which is made up of seniors and juniors and our junior team which is mainly freshmen and sophomores,” captain and senior Emily Gluskin said. “I’m very proud of our junior team this year, especially because it’s a lot of first timers. Either people doing mock trial for the first time ever or at least a high school mock trial, which is pretty different from the middle school level.”
The competition is structured in multiple rounds, beginning with preliminary trials. Once the preliminary rounds are completed, the top eight teams advance.
Months of preparation goes into the competition with practices taking place every Tuesday and Thursday for an hour and thirty minutes.
“In the beginning of the year, we go over the basics of mock trial, the rules and how it works,” Gluskin said. “We usually scrimmage schools outside of our county, and have class twice a week where we go over things, do run-throughs and give open critiques afterwards,” Gluskin said.
The team increased their preparation leading up to the competition.
“The main thing we do in January and February, leading up to competition, is library sessions where I, along with my other captain, [Cydney Neale] will be in the library after school for a [few hours] where [students] can come ask us questions and get extra practice,” Gluskin said.
Mock trial is not just a tournament but also a community full of support and friendships.
“Competition is fun, everyone gets so much closer during the weekends,” Gluskin said. “It’s also kind of sad though, because afterwards were mostly done for the year.”
Freshman Anika Avishek said her experience in mock trial this year helped her grow both personally and academically.
“I was very shy in the beginning, and I didn’t really connect with the team, but over time as we worked, I really bloomed out, especially at the competition where I made so many new friends and strengthened relationships,” Avishek said.
Come support the OPHS mock trial team scheduled to compete in their next round this Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Ventura County Courthouse.
