13 years.
Brady Piepenbrink is the business law teacher at Normal West.
In the business law class they do mock trials as one of their projects.
Before the mock trials begin the students are put into teams.
“So each group has a mock trial packet that they use to get ready,” Pienpenbrink stated.
The preparation time for the mock trials are, “3 weeks of getting ready, and then the actual trials usually last 2 class periods each,” Piepenbrink added.
The students’ preparation has been on a case with a woman who was abused by her husband, and later murdered him.
In the case, the woman was diagnosed with Battered Women Syndrome, a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The opposing lawyer stated that the wife endangered her child by seeking any help.
In the end, the final lawyer interrogated the wife’s brother to state if he was aware of the abuse towards his sister.
After preparation was done the students started their mock trials.
The mock trial took 4 days for 2 different groups.
The goal for the students to take away from these trials was to, “to have fun, memorable end to a class that you got to do unique things in,” Piepenbrink added.
Mr. Piepenbrink wanted the trials to teach the students how to, “pay attention to the little details because there’s stuff kind of hidden in the stories,” Piepenbrink stated.
The mock trial assignment helps students pay attention to details, while also becoming more creative in their problem-solving.
Students can become overall stronger and hard-working young adults.
“The confidence of speaking in front of people or acting your part in kind of, you know, building confidence that way or being the boss of the courtroom and keeping control and and kind of that quick thinking on your feet,” Piepenbrink explained.
Piepenbrink believes the mock trials can be beneficial for future lawyers in his class and they are “a little taste at doing what they would do in a in a real trial,” he explained.
The best moments during the trials were “when the classes get really into it, where people are yelling and screaming, and the jury’s trying not to laugh and the judge is trying to get control, and that’s when it’s memorable and fun,” Pienpenbrink described.
Ciera Byers a senior student in the business law class was happy about how the class assignment went, stating, “collaboration can be difficult because it is easy to fall into independent work.”
The first run of the mock trial provided a clear understanding of what to expect and how to overcome the challenges.
In the end, Piepenbrink wants to make the mock trial experience fun and educational for all of his students.
