Mock Trial, City High

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This spring, the City High mock trial program won its second state championship. 

“The motto ‘The School That Leads’ very much applies to our mock trial team,” said senior Amal Eltayib. “We are known for being one of the best teams in the state.” 

The Little Hawks argued the final round before a panel of legal experts in the Iowa Supreme Court chambers. The presiding judge was Iowa Supreme Court Justice Matthew McDermott. 

With the victory, City High advanced to represent the state of Iowa at the national championship, which will run from May 7-9 in Des Moines. 

Eltayib is one of the team’s four attorneys, along with Siena Brown, Elaine Burer, and Alma Bhandary-Narayanan. 

The team’s six witness roles are played by Emma Bardhoshi, Hazel Boerner, Quinn Clark, Jillian Conlon, Miriam Reschly-Krasowski, and Bryce Trainer. City High also had the state-champion courtroom journalist, Lillian Rantanen.

“We are a program with really strong enrollment,” said Bhandary-Narayanan. “We have extraordinary volunteer coaches. As teammates, we are all competitive. There are just a lot of people that are very dedicated to our program.” 

This year’s team is composed of incredible academic achievers, including students with college acceptance letters from Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Yale.

The team has been molded by expert coaches, including practicing attorney Lisa Williams and her husband, Jason Schumman. Schumann has a legal background and teaches history at City High. Williams serves on the school board. 

Years ago, the couple helped to found the City High mock trial program. Now, it is a powerhouse. 

“The way I pitch it to students is that if you like to argue with your parents or friends, then you’re going to like mock trial,” said Schumann. “If you like to create fun, interesting characters, that is also one of the great things that you get to do in this activity.”

The Little Hawks have been a fixture at the state tournament over the past decade, sometimes sending multiple teams deep into the competition. They earned their first state title in 2021 with a team that advanced to a runner-up finish at nationals. 

Over the past two seasons, City High has placed second at state. That meant this year’s championship team had prior experience on the big stage.

“At the competition, opponents who don’t know what school I go to will talk about the bracket,” said Brown. “It’s always fun when they say, ‘oh no, we were seeded against City High’ because I think it speaks to the strength of our program."

According to Williams and Schumann, bringing together dedicated students has been a key to the success. 

“The toughest part about coaching this team is that these are students who love being involved in activities,” said Williams. “We have kids involved in sports, fine arts, and so many different clubs and activities. So, we have to share.”

Before the first competition, the state assigns an 80-page case brief, which will be the basis for the entire mock trial season. The team works together to schedule practices and prepare their case while accommodating other activities.  

This group balances pre-trial prep with a lengthy list of other commitments. 

A rundown of their high-school involvement includes: interning in a biology lab, winning science conference national championships, participating in the governor’s youth advisory council, founding education non-profits, agricultural research abroad and for the World Food Prize, STEM club, environmental club, mental health club, women’s athletic leadership club, track and field, tennis, theater, show choir, dance, student senate president, student ambassadors, volunteering, and earning a taekwondo black belt.

“We all have so many diverse interests and passions,” said Brown. “Mock trial is the thing that brings us all back together.”

Eltayib says that mock trial has value far beyond college applications.  

“It’s a given that mock trial is a great resume booster for sure,” said Eltayib. “Beyond that, you get to compete and improve skills related to critical thinking, writing, and speaking. My teammates are also some of my best friends. Practices become hangouts. We do a lot of joking and bantering, and it’s a lot of fun.” 

The skill that Eltayib has honed the most through mock trial is public speaking. 

Over the past four years, she has gone from shaking at the thought of a class presentation to a seasoned presenter in the courtroom. 

In the state final, Eltayib presented opening arguments before the judges and cross-examined witnesses. 

“I have become a way better public speaker,” said Eltayib. “I have developed the ability to improvise, which previously would have sent me into a panic attack. What stands out the most for me is working on those communication skills.”

Still, Schumann says participating in mock trial at a high level demonstrates valuable skills to colleges.

“When colleges see mock trial on an application, they know those students are developing skills related to public speaking, analytical thinking, and creative writing," said Schumann. “Especially if students are competing at a really high level, I think colleges have a lot of confidence in the skills that they will bring.”

Brown has strong advice for students with big academic goals: pursuing your own authentic interests is enough. 

“It’s about pursuing your passions to the best of your ability, not chasing what you think colleges want to see,” said Brown. “When it is time to select a college, look at schools that will allow you to keep following your passions to the fullest.”

Pursuing passions is what brought Elaine Burer to City High in the first place. She transferred in ninth grade, hoping to find greater academic and fine arts opportunities in the setting of a large, public high school.

“When I came to City High, I saw all these opportunities,” said Burer. “I got into theater, show choir, and mock trial. It was eye-opening how much more I could do in those areas that interested me.”

This spring, Burer balanced her time as the stage manager for City High’s spring musical production of Frozen. Over the years, she has carved out a role as a leader in show choir. No matter what, she made time for mock trial. 

“Mock trial has been such a life-changing experience,” said Burer. “Coming here and participating in this program has been one of the best decisions that I have made so far, and I really would not trade it for the world.”

Like Burer, many members of the team have a theater background. That is because in mock trial, teams flip a coin before competition to learn which side of the case  they will be arguing. That means they must be prepared to call witnesses for either the prosecution or the defense. 

“Our theatre students really live on the witness stand,” said Williams. “They love getting into the character's head and fleshing out a backstory. They get to sneak in funny jokes and little idiosyncrasies.”

Witnesses must memorize their sworn affidavit and stick carefully to the facts of the case. They are examined by attorneys from both teams, who use the testimony they provide to build up their cases and poke holes in the other side’s argument. 

The City High team believes that the best witnesses maintain a consistent story while putting on a show. 

“Our team is known for bringing a unique style,” said Brown. “Our witnesses put fun characters up on the stand, and it is always lively. We never want you to feel like you’re stuck in a boring room for three hours.”

City High’s witnesses wear costumes, and some put on accents. They don’t attempt to seem perfectly credible, but instead credible in the areas that matter most to the case. One student turned the testimony of an insurance actuary into a side-splitting portrayal of an absent-minded statistician.

Those strong performances earn crucial points at competition. They also provide a lane for students with theatrical talents to get involved. 

“Every single person on our team is very competitive,” said Bhandary-Narayanan. “All of the coaches, attorneys, and witnesses motivate one another to be our best. At the competition, I know my witnesses have got me and that we really trust each other.”

Schumann says City High’s success is emblematic of growing interest in mock trial across the district. All in recent years, the activity has been added at West High, Liberty High, Southeast Middle School and Northwest Middle School. Schumann and Williams are presently helping to recruit coaches for North Central Middle School. 

“I would really encourage legal professionals in the community to offer their volunteer hours to any of the mock trial programs around the district,” said Schumann. “It is a great way to give back to young people.”

Attorneys like Williams lend special expertise, but teachers and community members can also coach. Along with Schumann and Williams, teacher Jenna Eastman coaches one of the teams at City High. 

Meanwhile, student Siena Brown now coaches the middle schoolers at Southeast.

“I always tell the middle schoolers that I coach, stick with this,” said Brown. “This is an incredible community to be part of, and you’ll have the chance to do special things.” 

Williams says any student can participate in mock trial. Notably, zero members of this year’s championship team currently plan to become lawyers. 

On the flip side, past mock trial students have gone on to law schools nationwide, including at Ivies such as Harvard Law and Penn Law. 

“This is an activity that is accessible to every single student that comes in the door,” said Williams. “Many of the mock trial teams from across the state and the country do not come from public school districts. I think that really speaks highly to the quality of public education in Iowa City.” 

Schumann points out that City High Mock Trial has never turned away a student and that participation is essentially free of charge. 

“It’s really terrific that we are able to offer this opportunity in a public school setting,” said Schumann. “I sometimes joke about the ‘legal fees’ which are thankfully waived by our attorney coaches in the district. The number of volunteer hours that they put in is incredible.”

The result of those hours: a student experience that is nationally competitive.

“City High is ‘The School That Leads’ because of the passion and dedication that is behind so many of our programs,” said Burer. “That is especially true with mock trial. Students have the opportunity and the confidence to achieve at the highest level if they put in the work.”

The team is still hard at work preparing for the national championship next week in Des Moines. This time, the Little Hawks will have home court advantage.