The 2016 Lake Highlands High School Mock Trail team.

The 2016 Lake Highlands High School Mock Trail team.

This weekend, the Lake Highlands Mock Trial team took the trip to Atlanta, Ga., to compete in the Empire Mock Trial Competition. Mock Trial is an opportunity for high school students to explore the field of law while developing speaking, critical thinking and analytical skills.  

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The Wildcat team has 14 members and three captains, Chloe Bidne, Brooke Elkjer and Jacob Faulk.  The team held fundraisers for months in advance to help cover the expenses of food, hotel rooms and airfare while traveling.

The team was invited by Empire, the host of this competition. Lake Highlands was one of only 25 teams in the world selected to compete. It marks the first time a team from Lake Highlands has been invited to the competition.

The fictional case the students had to tackle in the competition involved global terrorism. The team was given the documents of the case in August, and spent months preparing for this showdown. In the end, the team won one case and lost two, while one case ended in a no decision. Senior Captain Jacob Faulk says, “The competition was great, and the experience we gained will help us as district comes around.”

The team finished 21st out of the 25 teams in Atlanta. The regular season starts and January as the Wildcats look to win the district and make a run at the state championship.

Post by Tate Martin, a Lake Highlands High School senior and Advocate intern.