AN ARGUMENT FOR CIVICS
While many program initiatives covered in Ignite begin
within AOPS walls, the literature-based mock trial
program at St. Isidore started when Beth Specker,
Executive Director of The Rendell Center, reached out
to the school’s administration.
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“Judge [Rendell] and the Governor wanted to
work with schools in the five-county area.
They wanted a program to enhance what
teachers were already doing in the classroom,”
said Specker.
Specker explained to Ignite that for the last two years,
her organization was proactively setting up mock
trial programs across the state. “We need to make
sure the next generation understands how our
judicial system works.”
The center has already established programs at
27 Pennsylvania-area schools (including non-AOPS
schools) with 937 participating students in total.
St. Isidore was one of six schools piloting the
program for AOPS, a trend that will likely expand
given students’ academic performance and content
engagement thus far.
NEW YEAR, NEWLY ACCUSED
Mary Finnegan is already planning to run another
literature-based mock trial for 2018-2019. The biggest
challenge at this stage? Choosing a new book to base
it on. While The Outsiders made for a fascinating
story and case for her current 8 th graders, 7 th graders
(who acted as the jury) have already seen both sides’
strongest arguments play out.
This time next year, St. Isidore’s students could be
hearing testimony from the likes of Beowulf or Ender
Wiggin. And if The Rendell Center is successful in
its mission, even more characters will be on trial in
classrooms across AOPS. Will yours be among them?
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