Struthers High School mock trial team heads to state competition

By Sarah Lehr

slehr@vindy.com

struthers

When Malcom Gordon, a Struthers High School senior, heard his mock-trial team had qualified for state-level competition, he ran through several aisles of people to give his adviser a hug.

“We collided,” Rick Bruno, a social-studies teacher and the team’s adviser, said of the moment.

Several other members of the team said they cried upon hearing the announcement.

“I still hear that voice in my head sometimes,” senior Katelyn Davis said. “Knowing I was part of that – that’s probably the best feeling I’ve had in my entire life.”

After winning the regional competition in Akron last month, the high-school mock-trial team advanced to statewide competition, which begins today at the statehouse in Columbus. They are the first team in Struthers’ history to make it to state.

The students are divided into teams for either the prosecution or defense. For months, they’ve been reviewing case law and preparing testimony.

Local lawyers have donated their time to help the students practice. On competition days, attorneys also serve on judging panels, which involve rating the competitors on a scale of 1 to 10.

“A lot of the attorneys comment on how feisty and ferocious we are,” said Kaitlin Fuschillo, a senior and team captain. “One of the attorneys on the judging panel last competition told us if he had to go up against us, he’d fold like a cheap suit.”

Mock trial is Struthers’ only academic team. It’s also the sole mock-trial team in Mahoning County, which means Struthers competed against Trumbull County schools at the district level.

Social-studies teacher Kevin Dailey, whom the students have dubbed “team mom” due to his penchant for providing snacks, praised the diligence of the school’s competitors.

“For anybody that doubts this generation, it’s amazing what these students have done and the amount of hours they’ve spent after school,” Dailey said. “They’re not getting paid to do this. It’s not a job. ... It’s kind of exciting to see where they’re going to go from here.”

Sophomore Nia Daltorio, a team captain, summed up her experience with the group in one sentence: “We eat, sleep, drink, breathe mock trial,” she said.