Bishop Chatard’s 2023 Mock Trial team, “Art Eliminates Life,” placed 5th in Indianapolis Regional Competition on February 24, 2023, qualifying to move on to state competition on March 11 – 12. The BCHS team is among 24 high school teams statewide advancing in the Indiana Bar Foundation-sponsored competition.
Two Trojan teams participated in the 2023 Mock Trial competition. Art Eliminates Life competitors include: Claire O’Gara, Jake Weber, Catherine Joven, Megan Kramer, Van Hibbeln, Marguerite Bourgeois, Kaylee Durnil, Maci Knoll, and Zeke Jarzyniecki. The “Trojan Surprise Party” team made up of Emily Meckauskas, Sam Byrd, Addie Sandifur, Simon Lehmkuhler, Georgia Kramer, Olivia Krause, and Ava McCurdy also did an admirable job representing BCHS.
The teams are coached by attorneys and BCHS dads Tom Kramer and Tom Jarzyniecki. The mock trial team members and their attorney coaches spent countless evening and weekend hours practicing to achieve this level of success.
What is Mock Trial competition?
Mock Trial introduces Indiana students to our legal system and the judicial branch of government. Through Mock Trial, students get a deeper understanding and appreciation of the American courts.
Taking on the roles of attorneys and witnesses, students experience in-depth, hands-on learning, leading to an appreciation of our society’s approach to dispute resolution and justice. Students take case background information and witness statements and apply it to the law. They craft arguments, support it through testimony and physical evidence, and present it to a panel of attorneys, judges, and community members who evaluate their arguments and presentations.
Roncalli H.S. was the only other Archdiocese of Indianapolis High School finishing in the Indianapolis Regional Top 10. The Royals finished 10th in the competition.