Whiz Kids: Mock Trialers

School: Bensalem High School

Accomplishment: The local team had a great season. At the state competition held March 30 and 31, BHS’s Mock Trial team finished fifth out of 12. Their road to the states included a county win over Holy Ghost Prep and a regional victory over Villa Maria Academy. The school board is scheduled to publically recognize the team for their accomplishments at meeting on Wednesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m.

The team includes: Amelia Ali, Andrew Arcangeli, Samantha Begelman, Jon Flanagan, Shane Flanagan, Rosemary Geraghty, Sara Gormley, Kim Kaelin, Hanna Martin, Boris Moglevich, Alex Mottershead, Anish Shah, Stephen Sklarow, and Alyssa Winsom.  Their sponsors and mentors are high school teachers Kristin Egan and Jamie Rosenburg. Their attorney coaches from the Bucks County District Attorney’s office are Steve Jones and Brian Scanlon. 

Bensalem was one of the first Pennsylvania schools to compete in Mock Trial which began over 23 years ago.  It is a situational trial based on a real life case.  Each school must have six participants filling the roles of lawyers, advocates and witnesses.  In each trial, each school must have three lawyers and three witnesses to represent either the defense or the plaintiff.  Every participating school in the state receives the same case and the same information to use in order to prepare for the case.