Congratulations to the ACS Mock Trial Team for chalking up its first win of the season on Tuesday, January 24, beating a team from Atlantic City High School. The 8-member ACS team will face off against the Atlantic County Institute of Technology for its second match on Thursday, January 26. The competitions are being held in a courtroom at the Atlantic County Civil Courthouse in Atlantic City.
In the Mock Trial competition on Tuesday, ACS represented the Plaintiff’s side in a fictional case entitled “Dylan Salerno v Sam Arena.” The case involves a grandparent, Dylan Salerno, suing 18-year-old Sam Arena for the wrongful death of his 17-year-old grandson, Rory Salerno, who died after participating with him in an energy drink on-line challenge. The team members have been studying the case for several months and preparing to play the roles of various individuals in the case under the watchful eyes of teacher-coach Rhapsody Hahn-Chaney and attorney-coach Jenna Cook
The students who competed on the side of the Plaintiff were: 10th grader Joshua Kinch (opening attorney), 11th grader Maddie Haag (closing attorney), 11th grader Louis Spirko (playing Dylan Salerno, the victim’s grandfather); 11th grader Ryleigh Martin (playing Logan Huntzperger, the victim’s friend), and 9th grader Justin Basso (playing Dr. Alex Schwartz, cardiologist and nutritional scientist).
“I’m very proud of our team and all the hard work they have put into preparing for this competition,” Hahn-Chaney said. “Our Mock Trial program is only in its second year, but we are now on the map as a team that has to be reckoned with.”
Each case is presided over by two judges who observe the proceedings, score the teams, and determine the winner. Hahn-Chaney said that the judges on Tuesday complimented several ACS team members, including 9th grader Justin Basso, who played Dr. Alex Schwartz, and 11th grader Maddie Haag, the closing attorney. “They were impressed with Justin’s command of the medical verbiage and his unshakable demeanor, which made him a very convincing medical expert and they also recognized Maddie for her effective presentation doing the closing,” Hahn-Chaney said.
On Thursday, ACS will compete as the Defense in the same case and the students who will be participating are: Maddie Haag (opening attorney), Ryleigh Martin (closing attorney), 12th grader Summer Scott (playing Dr. Jordan Scott, cardiologist and lead investigator), 11th grader Vera Huff (playing Bailey Patel, social media influencer and mentor to defendant), and 12th grader Evan Power (playing Sam Arena, social media influencer and defender).
Mock Trial teams from 10 Atlantic County high schools are competing in Round 1, which concludes on Thursday. Based on the number of wins or high scores, six teams will then advance to Round 2, which will be held on January 31, . There will also be a Round 3 on February 2 and then the Atlantic County Championship on February 7.