Evan and the Mock Trial team have been preparing for months, and a couple weeks ago, competed against other schools in the region. I have zero knowledge of how Mock Trial works, so I was excited that Evan chose to participate and introduced us to this new experience.
For those with zero experience, like me, basically the teams are given the same case to prepare. This year it was a civil case about who was responsible for the cost of retrofitting a building to bring it up to code - the builders and designers who substituted a lesser quality material or the condo HOA who decided to bring it up to code. The argument being was safety sacrificed for cost.
Half the team practices the defense side, half practices plaintiff. Evan played the role of expert witness for the plaintiff - Rowan Hightower. Evan was awarded "star witness" by the team he competed against, and the team ended up taking second, overall.
practicing before the trial began
The judge invited viewers to sit in the jury box to better simulate the real experience. This is Evan on the witness stand, making his case, appealing to jurors.
team picture
second place finish
Also, the boys recently performed in the high school variety show. In this piece, the chamber orchestra accompanied one of their classmates as she played piano and sang. She's super talented. I don't know what I'm talking about, but I wouldn't be surprised if she "makes it." She said, "that's the goal," while her mom said, "She'd like to make music as long as possible." So we'll see...
Anyway, I like this picture because I could see Evan and Ryan. Usually, Evan is buried from view in the second violin section.
Evan also performed "One More Day" from Les Misérables. Evan sang Jean Valjean's part. It turned out pretty well, despite the limited practice and the sound guy's errors.
