County Mock Trial Orientation

Subject: County Mock Trial Orientation

Dear Prospective 2008-2009 Mock Trial Participant:

The Alameda County Office of Education (ACOE) is pleased to announce its Twenty-Third Annual Alameda County Mock Trial Competition. We invite your school to participate in this challenging and rewarding program simulating the United States’ judicial system.

We are currently working on securing donations for scholarships for eligible schools so that a school’s inability to pay the participation fee does not unfairly serve as a barrier to participation. Additionally, we can assist schools in need of identifying coaching support from the legal community.

ORIENTATION MEETING. A mandatory orientation meeting for interested schools is scheduled for Wednesday, October 1, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in Room 213 at the Alameda County Office of Education in Hayward. Parking is free in the lot located behind the 313 W. Winton Building off Santa Clara. At this meeting, teacher-sponsors will receive guidelines on preparing students for the Mock Trial, rules and regulations will be discussed, case materials will be reviewed and available for purchase, and dates/locations will be finalized for practice rounds, competition rounds, and the awards celebration. PLEASE BRING YOUR SCHOOL CALENDAR OF TESTS, HOLIDAYS, AND OTHER IMPORTANT DATES.

CASE MATERIALS. Case materials will not be available until the orientation. You must bring a money order, check or purchase order for $275.00 payable to “ACOE/Mock Trial” to the orientation for case materials.

PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS. Each participating high school is required to do the following:

Ø Select a teacher-sponsor who will publicize Mock Trial at your school, develop a team of students and supervise the school team at all competitions.
Ø Select an attorney-coach and hold weekly meetings to prepare for the competition (if you need assistance identifying a coach, please contact me).
Ø Send a representative to the orientation, preferably the teacher-sponsor, on October 1, 2008 (attorney-coaches may also want to attend).
Ø Participate in at least two rounds of competition scheduled for February 2008 and subsequent rounds for which your team remains eligible.
Ø Pay for participation and case materials by November 1, 2008, (participation fee is $1,600 unless eligible for a scholarship, if they are available, and case materials are $275.
Refund Policy: Participation fees are not refundable after November 30, 2008. There are no refunds for case materials. Participation-fee refund requests must be made in writing to Rachelle DiStefano on or before November 30, 2008 and will be subject to a 10% administrative service charge.
Ø If you are the county winner, pay all costs related to participating in the state/national competitions (to participate in the State competition in Riverside, the Alameda County winner must pay the $900 registration fee, plus hotel/travel costs; if an Alameda County school wins the state competition, we will help find a donor to assist with travel and airfare).

PREPARATION FOR OCTOBER 1, 2008 ORIENTATION MEETING. If your school chooses to participate, please:

Ø RSVP by Tuesday, September 30, 2008, by emailing Rachelle DiStefano at rdistefano@acoe.org (PLEASE PUT “MOCK TRIAL” IN SUBJECT BOX).
Ø Bring the attached entry form signed by the school principal.
Ø Bring the $275 for copyrighted case materials if you wish to receive them at the orientation.
Ø BRING YOUR SCHOOL CALENDAR with testing dates and holidays so that scheduling conflicts can be avoided.
Ø Optional: You may also bring the $1,600 participation fee at this time. If you wish to combine the amounts, the check or purchase order should be in the amount of $1,875

FEE DEADLINE/MONEY ORDERS AND PURCHASE ORDERS: November 1. All fees are due by November 1, 2008, and paid by check, purchase order or money order. Please make checks and purchase orders payable to “ACOE/Mock Trial” and forward to:
Alameda County Office of Education
Attn: Rachelle DiStefano
313 W. Winton Avenue, Room 220
Hayward, CA 94544

WHAT IS MOCK TRIAL? Coordinated by the Alameda County Office of Education in collaboration with the Alameda County legal community and the Constitutional Rights Foundation, Mock Trial is a simulation of a criminal case with a pretrial motion on a Bill of Rights issue. School teams, limited to 20 students, study a hypothetical case, conduct legal research and learn courtroom procedures and trial preparation techniques from their teacher sponsors and volunteer attorney coaches. Students portray each of the principals in the cast of courtroom characters – counsel, witnesses, court clerk, and bailiff – thus acquiring a working knowledge of our judicial system. Teams alternately argue the case from the defense and the prosecution prospective. Alameda County judges preside and attorneys rate the teams’ performances. The Mock Trial format fosters skill development in research, analysis, and communication.

WHEN DO MOCK TRIAL ACTIVITIES BEGIN? Teams begin preparation this Fall 2008 for the competition in February 2008. Each team will compete in four to six trials scheduled after school at an Alameda County courthouse in Oakland during the month of February. The highest scoring team will represent Alameda County at the California State finals in Riverside County in March. The state winner will compete at the National Mock Trial competition in May.

WHOM TO CONTACT. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Rachelle DiStefano at rdistefano@acoe.org and put “Mock Trial” in subject box. I am often difficult to reach by telephone, so please call Josephine Smedley at (510) 670-4564 if email is not an option for you.

Sincerely,
Rachelle DiStefano, JD, EdD
Director of Educational Support Services
and Professional Development

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Official Enrollment Form.doc

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