This year Archmere’s Mock Trial team expanded to include a JV team, two courtroom artists, and a courtroom reporter. This team was incredibly successful at the state-wide competi- tion on February 24 and 25, 2023. This was also the first year since the COVID-19 pandemic that the competition was in person at the Leonard L. Williams Justice Center in Wilmington, DE.

Archmere’s varsity team put its court expertise in action and won fourth in the state. Addition- ally, individual teammates won four gavels for best witnesses in each round; two gavels each were awarded to Grace Chen ‘24 and Victoria Eastment ‘24, who were two of ten students in the state to be awarded two gavels. Additionally, the varsity team brought home three best attorney gavels, with two going to Clare O’Dwyer ‘23 and one to Helen Qi ‘23. When commenting on this experience, Grace Chen ’24 concluded that, “We had such an amazing season, and I’m so proud of both teams! We will especially miss Helen, Clare, Mia, Sydney, Ava- our seniors. Without their leadership and Ms. Scheflen and the coaches, we wouldn’t have made it this far.”

Archmere’s JV team also prospered, bringing home several gavels. Chloe Li ’26 won a gavel for best attorney, and Sarah Eastment ’26 and Cece Kittila ’26 each won gavels for best witness. The JV team placed 11th out of 18 teams, which Archmere sees as a success! JV team leader Gavin Nguyen ’24, recounted his experience, explaining, “It was really meaningful and nice to be in person this year. The competition felt much more au- thentic, and I feel like I was able to connect better with the jury and my teammates.” First-timer Darren Lou’26 felt that the experience was “both stressful and thrilling to be in front of real-life attorneys and judges. Overall, it was a great experience.” Darren and Gavin are both eager for next year’s season to start.

Besides a JV team, Archmere Mock Trial had three more additions this year: Jace Walker ’25 and Grace Yang ’25 as courtroom artists and Isabelle Ferris as a courtroom jour- nalist. All three displayed their great talent in
the courtroom. Jace and Grace were tasked with sketching one scene from the courtroom during the competition. Then they handed them in to be judged. Jace Walker won best courtroom artist of the competition and in the state. Grace Yang believes that the experience was worth missing a day of school despite the work she had to make up. When describing her experiences, she said that she “always thought law was somewhat of a boring subject made only for super smart kids, but seeing the arguments, acting, and strategizing firsthand was actually amusing and incredibly immersive. It felt great to see the close community within the team and even be a part of it, even if only for a little bit.” Archmere’s Mock Trial team is one with great team spirit, inclusion, and unity.

Another addition to the team, court- room journalist Isabelle Ferris ’24 took notes during round 3 of the trial and then had 60 min- utes to write a non-biased report, recounting the trial’s events. She commented on the strategy and dramatic moments of both teams. “Because it was the first year the Mock Trial Committee included courtroom journalism, the experience was over- whelming but educational. It was difficult to keep up with the intricate details of the trial. However, this experience helped me to develop useful skills.” She is hopeful that next year, everything will run even more smoothly.

In total, the expanded Archmere Mock trial team excelled during the competition, with several noteworthy individual performances.