Friday, March 20, 2009 By Calvin Ching - Salman Farooq Advertising Historical events brought to life in mock court case (January 27, 2006) -- “Order in the court. The court is now in session,” the judge proclaims on Jan. 10 in teacher Ira West’s United States history class. Junior Tae Woo Lee comes up to the podium to recite the prosecution’s opening statement for the jury, and the trial begins. West takes the court to the classroom as students participate in political trials such as this. Subjects in the political trials range from current events involving the presidency of George W. Bush to such historical events as World War II. West assigns these trials every year as a project for his regular history classes. West carried over this project from his teaching position in another school and has been holding trials for the last seven years. Keeping in tradition with the annual political trial, fourth period’s trial was a heated battle of wits, research and arguments, with objections flying from either side of the court. Both sides presented themselves as professionals as they were rehearsed and ready to defend their argument. After a long class period, the trial was over, but the jury did not yet reach a verdict. The prosecution and defense were left waiting in anxiety until the verdict was finally reached 20 minutes after the next class time. The jury announced that the prosecution had won their case, and they were overjoyed by the news. Although team came out on top, both sides benefited from first-hand experience. “It’s always more interesting to learn about what’s currently happening in the world, rather than reading about Columbus in 1492,” junior Alec Ananian said. Ananian participated in the trial during fourth period on the prosecution side. According to Ananian, the trials were an interesting way to present historical information. The last of the trials are scheduled to take place next semester with a brand new set of lawyers and topics.

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