Mission Moment: Duke Moot Court
Have you ever heard of Duke Moot Court? We just learned about it this week. Our friends at Franklin High School shared the good news. The Franklin Academy of Law traveled to Duke University on March 23, 2018 to compete in a national moot court tournament – all made possible by the grant provided by the Education Foundation of BCPS and the generous contributions received from Ms. Sheila Murthy of The Murthy Legal Group and Ms. Patricia Lambert of PK Law.
So what is moot court? Ms. Emma Disciullo, Social Studies Teacher at Franklin High School has summed it up perfectly for us in her account of the occasion.
“In moot court, teams of two students present arguments to a court of college students or lawyers in the style of a Supreme Court and answer questions posed by the “Justices.” This is probably the biggest moot court tournament in the nation for high school students and teams have to be selected for participation based on an essay they submit. There were 54 other teams from public and private schools there – national and international schools. We had seven teams of two students. We were tied with a school from Hollywood California (North Hollywood High) for the largest delegation.
Our teams competed against teams from around the world and did an extraordinary job. Of our seven teams, 5 advanced to the medal round of 32. Of those five, 3 advanced to the round of 16, 2 advanced to the round of 8, and the team of Emily Dioguardo and Jen Fridman made the Final Four before being eliminated in the semifinals in a very, very close match against a California school on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday night, the top ten speakers from the first three rounds of competition were announced and given awards. Junior, Lexi Taylor was honored as the 7th best speaker in the competition.
In total our teams won 18 separate matches this weekend, with every team winning at least one. They did a terrific job. The names of all the students appear below:
- Maddie Ballan and Lexi Taylor
- Ethan Banks and Rita Rozental
- Asia Chester and Michelle Gonikman
- Emily Dioguardo and Jen Fridman
- Scarlett Horn and McKenzie Patrick
- Daisy Oberfeld and Jamie Roa
- Matthew Rubinstein and Jeremy Stein
The Franklin Academy of Law and our moot court students thank the Education Foundation for making this all possible!”
Congratulations to the students of Franklin High School and the Franklin Academy of Law. We celebrate your success.
Through the implementation of this grant, Franklin High School has been able to provide students opportunities and experiences that extend beyond the class room walls. Community partners like Ms. Sheila Murthy, President and founder of Murthy Law Firm, Baltimore, MD and Ms. Patricia Lambert, Member of PK Law, Baltimore, MD, believe in the work of the students through financial support and volunteerism. They extend their ambassadorship through, time, talent and treasure. We thank them for providing the resources to make this grant possible. We celebrate your generosity.
To become a community resource partner in support of 21st Century Learning, please contact The Education Foundation of BCPS, Inc. at (443) 809-8962. Headquarters 105 W. Chesapeake Ave., Suite B1, Towson, MD 21204.