2 days ago
Middle schoolers try out SVVSD pre-law program at summer camp
Rising seventh grader Owen Lere took on the role of both a lawyer and a witness as he and his team tried to convince a jury to award damages in a fictitious case of a boy who was burned during a school marshmallow melting experiment.
While his side didn't prevail — the defense had a legal edge — the experience only increased his enthusiasm for learning about the legal system with a goal of becoming an actual lawyer.
'I love arguing,' said Owen, who attends Erie's Soaring Heights PK-8. 'Fighting for justice is cool. One hundred percent I love this.'
Dave Elchoness teaches a middle school pre-law summer camp Wednesday at St. Vrain Valley's Career Elevation and Technology Center.(Cliff Grassmick/Staff Photographer)
The mock trial was the culmination of a recent four-day pre-law camp held at St. Vrain Valley's Career Elevation and Technology Center. The new pre-law camp was one of eight June camps designed to give middle school students a preview of the classes they can take in high school, including advanced manufacturing, health careers and culinary arts.
St. Vrain started the pre-law program in 2022 with two classes, introduction to law and criminal law. District officials said it was the state's first career and technical education pre-law program.
Since then, the program has grown from 80 students to more than 200 students and now includes four main classes, with civil rights law and business law both added to the roster. Students have the opportunity to join the classes remotely, from their home high schools, through the district's AGILE, or Advanced Global Interactive Learning Environments, initiative.
There's also an opportunity for students to complete a senior capstone project. Izzy Renk, who will be a senior at Niwot High, worked with teacher David Elchoness to create the middle school summer camp's curriculum and teach the camp.
Izzy, who wants to practice law and is taking paralegal classes at Front Range Community College, said the pre-law camps she attended in middle school in another school district encouraged her to continue studying law in high school. Developing a St. Vrain camp gives other middle schoolers the same opportunity, she said.
'Even if you don't want to be a lawyer, law classes can help you with your other classes,' she said.
Rising Erie High junior Sienna Torres agreed, saying the pre-law classes improved her critical thinking and helped her write better argumentative essays for Advanced Placement classes.
'I love a good argument,' she said. 'This class taught me how to look beyond what is in front of you. I like that law isn't always black or white. It's always changing.'
The high school classes are taught by Elchoness and his wife, lawyer Evelyn Bonn. Elchoness, also a lawyer, said he decided to switch careers and become a teacher for the program, which he modeled after his law school experience. Two years ago, he started a district high school mock trial team to give students more opportunities to practice what they learned. Last school year, the team made it to state and won the professionalism award at the competition.
While he's teaching students the same legal concepts they would learn in high school, he said, he works to make sure the classes are fun and engaging. He creates fictitious cases students can relate to, holds frequent mock trials and debates and, for the business law class, has students create a company.
'It's fun to teach kids something new,' he said. 'Students are very interested in the law. We're using law to teach critical thinking, reading and writing skills, and oral advocacy. These are universal skills.'
At the middle school camp, high school students joined on Thursday to help students prepare for the mock trial and serve as jurors. Along with rendering their verdicts, they judged the performances and feedback. While the defense was the clear legal winner, the high schoolers split on which side performed best and complimented all the students.
Elchoness added his praise, saying he was surprised by how quickly the students learned legal concepts and how well they argued their sides as lawyers and responded to questions as witnesses.
'I thought you prepared the case as well as most of my high school students,' he said. 'You came up with great arguments and great questions. I was extremely impressed. You far exceeded my expectations.'
When asked if they want to enroll in the pre-law program in high school, all eight students in the morning session raised their hands.
Greylyn Garvin, who will be a seventh grader at Mead Middle School, said she enjoyed the chance to be 'so mean' in her cross examinations and would like to learn more about the law in high school.
'You never know what will happen (in a mock trial),' she said. 'It was exciting.'
