The Fishers area has another academic team with national honors. The Hamilton Southeastern High School Mock Trial team finished as the runner-up in national competition.
Twenty-seven mock trial teams vied for the National Judicial Competition mock trial championship. Washington state took top honors with HSE Mock Trial as the NJC Runner-Up.
In preparation, the Indiana Bar Foundation asked the team to perform a demonstration for some litigation attorneys at Ice Miller. Hamilton County Magistrate David Najjar also presided for the team’s dress rehearsal in his courtroom.
In addition to trials, the team participated in NJC organized activities that included improv from ComedySportz and a dinner cruise on Lake Michigan. The team also enjoyed deep-dish pizza as well as a visit to Millennium Park.
Teachers Ethan Mathias and Janet Chandler accompanied the students to Chicago.
The team will be conducting auditions in September in preparation for its 2018 county and regional season.
Teams are limited to eight participants.
Some students play multiple roles. Below is a listing of roles played by HSE students:
Plaintiff Attorneys
- Bryana Tuemler (12), Madison Rossillo (10) and Kaleb Oliver (12)
Plaintiff Witnesses
- Ricki Jones (Plaintiff) — Kaitlyn Ross (11)
- Alex Foster (works for Metro City Public Utilities) — Nathan Brown (12)
- Pat Dawes (oncologist) — Jill Grant (11)
Defense Attorneys
- Rebecca Liu (12), Nathan Brown (12) and Emma Leonard (12)
Defense Witnesses
- Chris Baird (Member of City Council) — Madison Rossillo (10)
- Hunter Williams (parasitologist) — Jill Grant (11)
- Tyler Johnson (volunteer counselor) — Kaitlyn Ross (11)
Kaitlyn Ross took top honors as most outstanding witness in the competition.