Perrysburg Court Explorers Advance to Ohio’s Largest Academic Competition

Perrysburg, Ohio – March 3, 2004 – On March 11-13 members of Perrysburg Court Explorer Post 2306 will travel to Columbus to compete for the title at the 21^st Annual Ohio Mock Trial State Champion.  During the three-day event, the team will battle it out against 47 other teams in actual Franklin County Courthouse courtrooms.  The Ohio Mock Trial program is sponsored by the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE).

The Perrysburg Court Explorer team earned its right to advance after winning the district competition in Wood County in February.  Winning at district is no small feat, as the 2004 mock trial district competition included nearly 400 teams from 250 high schools competing simultaneously in 30 districts.  Now the top 48 teams have earned the right to test their legal prowess at the state competition!  The team that takes top honors at state will go on to represent Ohio at the National Mock Trial Competition, May 6-8 in Orlando, Florida.

Each year the OCLRE creates an original fictitious case involving a constitutional issue that is relevant to students’ own personal experience. The 2004 case before the students involves an explosive planted in a backpack in a busy town square. At issue are the subsequent actions of the police upon identification of a suspect. The suspect, a student at the local high school, was questioned and confessed. The student then fainted and was transported to the hospital where s/he was arrested for attempted murder.

Perrysburg Court Explorer’s team is comprised of Jenna Anderson, Nick Bade, Kaitlin Burhans, JoJo Ginn, Lindsay Kilpatrick, Michael O’Brien, David Prephan, Kevin Swiatek, and Alex Zavala.  Post members Thomas Belazis, Jenna Borton, Ross Buchanan, Keri Campbell, Kelsey Campbell, Paul Delaney, Maria Dicke, Nick Gozza, Karl Meyer, Olivia Twu, and Sara Walker are also traveling to Columbus to scrimmage with and support their peers.

The Ohio Center for Law-Related Education designs programs to teach students about government, citizenship, and the law. The Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio State Bar Association, the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation, and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office sponsor OCLRE. In addition, the Ohio Mock Trial Competition is made possible in part by grants from the Ohio State Bar Foundation and the Ohio Bar Liability Insurance Company. You can contact OCLRE directly at www.oclre.org or by calling 877/485-3510.

Exploring is part of Learning for Life’s career education program.  Visit the national Exploring website at www.learning-for-life.org for additional information. The Perrysburg Municipal Court launched Explorer Post 2306 in October 2001.  The purpose is to give community youth in Wood County the opportunity to look into the world of law and government as a career choice and to participate in law and government activities.  New members are always welcome.  Visit www.perrysburgcourt.com/Gen/explorer or call the court at 419/872-7915 for more information.

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