North Myrtle Beach High School’s Mock Trial Team Ranked Among South Carolina’s Finest

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC – March 31, 2010 – North Myrtle Beach High School students ranked fourth in the South Carolina Mock Trial Championship held March 12-13 at the Matthew J. Perry Jr. Federal Courthouse in Columbia.

After competing in four rounds against Strom Thurmond, Lexington, Fort Mill, and Fort Dorchester high schools the North Myrtle Beach team finished in the top four. Students receiving special recognition were Felicia Canipe and Haven Lane as ‘most effective witnesses’ and Trenton Smith as the ‘most effective attorney’.

Photo caption:  North Myrtle Beach High School’s Mock Trial Team  (TeamCoach, Jill W. Fennel, Esquire, is seated third from left)

A national endeavor, the high school mock trial program is a hands-on exercise in learning about due process with the goal of educating students about the basis of our American judicial system and the mechanics of litigation. Through participation in the mock trial program, students increase basic skills such as listening, speaking, writing, reading and problem analysis.

Jill W. Fennel, Esquire, an attorney with Thompson & Henry, P.A., serves as the coach for the North Myrtle Beach Mock Trial team. “I am extremely proud of all of our students,” said Fennel who has coached the group for the last two years.

“I encourage students to keep in mind that the goal of the mock trial program is not to win for the sake of winning, but to learn and understand the meaning of good citizenship in a democracy through participation in our system of law and justice,” Fennel said.

The mock trial program is sponsored by the South Carolina Bar’s Law Related Education (LRE) Division, which was developed in 1976 to improve the ability of teachers to instruct law related education. It is made possible through an IOLTA grant from the South Carolina Bar Foundation.