The North Polk Mock Trial team has been working a countless number of hours in the past few months in order to prepare themselves for the district rounds in Des Moines. After receiving the title of 1st runners-up, they were invited to compete in the Marshalltown districts as well. The team won both of their rounds in Marshalltown and has advanced to the State Competition on March 25, 26, and 27th at the Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines.

The team is made up of eight students working together to form a pretrial conference, two opening statements, six direct examinations, six cross examinations, and two closing statements. Each of these is given in a trial setting, which includes six witnesses portrayed by members of the team. The attorneys must be able to think on their feet so that they are able to make objections, responses to these objections, and devise questions for their witness on the spot. Witnesses must know their affidavits well enough to respond to questions from the opposing team. The opposing team may ask almost any question they desire, and witnesses must be prepared to answer anything and everything.

The students on this year’s team are:
Seniors:
Kameron Dodge (attorney on plaintiff and defense)
Sylvia Koss (witness on plaintiff and defense)
Emily Reid (timekeeper)

Juniors:
Michelle Weber (attorney on plaintiff and defense)
Christopher Goodwin (witness on plaintiff and attorney on defense)
Monica Cox (witness on plaintiff and defense)
Sam Peterson (attorney on plaintiff and witness on defense)

Freshman:
Briana Reha (attorney on plaintiff and defense)