Hillsdale recently sent three competitors to the Gladiator Olympics, a national mock trial skills competition sponsored by Stand Up Mock Trial and Mock On Academy. Students were given People v. Hancock, an attempted murder case set at a rally for a controversial political candidate. Students then chose among four different categories--pretrial, direct examination, opening statements, and closing arguments. Competitors submitted videos and the six finalists presented live on YouTube. Out of hundreds of entries from the around the country two Hillsdale students, Nikki Donovan and Jack Spillner, made the live medal rounds. After all was said and done, Nikki Donovan won the bronze medal in the closing argument category, and Jack Spillner won gold in the opening category. Congratulations Nikki and Jack! Big props also to Cole Baker who didn't medal but submitted a fantastic opening argument. 

This weekend in a national field of 44 of the best mock trialers in the country, Pooja Agarwal and Jack Spillner finished in 5th and 6th place, respectively (the two highest any Hillsdale student has placed at Gladiator).  In the case, United States v. Augie Shepard, the government charged Atlanta mob boss Augie Shepard with murder and retaliation against a witness. The government alleged that Shepard, while on a college trip to UCLA with his 18-year old, spotted a mob "rat" in downtown Los Angeles and murdered him the night before Shepard was to return to Atlanta.  The "rat" - a former mob member now in witness protection - was strangled by a pair of jumper cables at the home where he had been relocated. Jack and Pooja competed both as government and defense attorneys, as well as both witnesses over two days.  Jack also received Gladiator's top witness award, and received a full scholarship to Top Mock mock trial camp at Furman University for finishing as one of the top rising juniors.

This weekend Hillsdale sent two teams to the 2022 Princeton Moot Court, a national competition with a 55-team field.  Attorneys were asked to make an appellate argument on two issues: whether a federal ban on semi-automatic handguns violated the petitioner's rights under the 2nd Amendment, and whether the ban constituted a taking deserving of just compensation under the 5th Amendment.  After 8 rounds, both Hillsdale teams, Lucas Immanuel/Isabel Ortega and Aryah Öztanir/Karina Bagnall, had made it to the semifinal round (top four teams).  Aryah and Karina then made it to the final round where they competed against J.P. McCaskey High School (PA) in front of a 9-judge panel.  In a 5-4 decision Aryah and Karina took home the championship!  It was the first time any of the competitors had competed in a moot court-style competition.  Congratulations on a fantastic weekend.

Dear Seniors: We want to take this opportunity to thank you sincerely for the generosity, kindness, perseverance, guts and hard work you given us over the last four years.  There is not a senior class that has left a bigger mark on the program than you.  As members of the JV team you won three straight championships and last year you finished second in the state.  And even though this year may not have not ended the way you wanted it to, you have left the program in a much better place than where you found it and set an example that your younger colleagues will be proud to follow. Thank you.

Mock Trial Class of 2022: Tej Sukumaran, Clare Lucey, Jada Pisani, Sabrina Gansen, Lucas Immanuel, Isabel Ortega, Natalia Ortega, Lexi Kolb

Congratulations to the JV team for taking home their fourth straight JV championship last Thursday against a tough Notre Dame team.  Though varsity came up short this year, they left it all in the courtroom and we couldn't be any prouder of them.

Congratulations to 2021 graduates Allison Rulli (UCLA), Sammie Morris-Beber (UCSD), and Jack Price (Cal Poly) for making their college mock trial teams. We hope to head down and see a competition. Good luck!

This summer Hillsdale will offer two sessions of mock trial camp.  The sessions will run from June 21-25 and August 2-6.  The camp will feature an original case and will end with students conducting a trial using content they've created over the week. Any student entering 7th, 8th, or 9th grade, or any current Hillsdale student entering 10th grade is eligible to attend.  You can register at bit.ly/Hillsdalemock. If you have any questions email Matt Springman at mspringman@smuhsd.org.