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Mock Trial & Mock Appeal Program

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After-School

Mock Trial & Mock Appeal Program: Grades 6-8

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Discovering Justice’s Mock Trial and Mock Appeal Programs pair middle school students with legal professionals to explore the judicial system, analyze a legal case, and practice the civic skills needed to persuasively argue cases. Through these engaging, supportive weekly sessions, student attorneys develop the confidence and vital civic skills like perspective taking, critical thinking, writing, and civil discourse necessary to become leaders in their communities. This semester-long program culminates with students presenting their case before a real judge and jury of community members for Mock Trial and panel of judges for Mock Appeal.

Video courtesy of NBC10 Boston.

Fall Mock Trial

10 Weeks (September-December)

•Learn about the judicial system and explore a constitutional case

• Examine and question witnesses

• Try a case before a federal or state judge and jury of community members

Spring Mock Appeal

11 Weeks (February-May)

• Dive deeper into the judicial system and real constitutional issues

• Build oral arguments to argue and defend in front of a panel of judges

• Explore how a decision is appealed

The Case

For the 2025-2026 school year, Discovering Justice and our legal mentors are excited to announce students will be arguing a case that centers on due process.

Christine Johnson was a Senior at Cedarwood High School. While many students and teachers considered Christine the “class clown,” she was an excellent student academically, and was an extremely talented artist. As a school project, she created a “logo” for herself, which was a picture of a court jester with her initials behind it. She used that logo for everything, and even had stickers and patches made with it. In her final semester, the Cedarwood County Education Department awarded Christine a scholarship for her excellence in art. One of her classmates, George Thomas Smith, came in second for the scholarship. George was also a good artist, but was a bit of a teacher’s pet when it came to academics. Christine was warned that, should she get in any serious trouble in her final semester of high school, the scholarship would be taken from her and given to George.

 On April 25, 2025, just after senior prank week, students arrived at the school to find a five-foot version of Christine’s logo spray painted on the front door to the school. The Principal immediately assumed Christine must be the culprit, and after a few brief conversations with some of the teachers, called Christine into his office to discuss. When pressed about the image, Christine said it was not a bad version of her logos, but had some differences. When further pressed, she told the Principal “Oh, yeah, you know me–always the troublemaker!” After the Principal suspended her, Christine said one of her friends could prove she did not do it, but the Principal said it was too late. Christine was suspended from school and lost her art scholarship. Christine is suing the School District for violating her property rights without due process by failing to give her an opportunity to be heard.

Students will use the precedent of Goss v. Lopez (1975) and Radwan v. Manuel (2022) in their preparation for their arguments.

Frequently Asked Questions

For Schools and Families

There are no prerequisites to participate in either program. Although there is continuity between the Fall Mock Trial Program and the Spring Mock Appeal as they use the same case, both programs are designed to be engaging and inclusive for all students regardless of whether or not they have participated in our programs before.

Discovering Justice works directly with district partners and school administrators to establish programs and services. If you are a parent, guardian, family member, or teacher interested in bringing Mock Trial and/or Mock Appeal to your school, please ask a school administrator to contact us at afterschool@discoveringjustice.org.

The Mock Trial & Mock Appeal Program is designed for middle school students in grades 6-8 across Massachusetts. Mock Trial and Mock Appeal are each made up of a ten-week curriculum and activities are aligned with Massachusetts learning standards for middle schoolers.

  • Programs meet once a week after school for 60-90 minutes. Session times are determined by each school and its volunteers. Students are expected to attend all sessions and the culminating event.
  • Teacher Coordinators attend an orientation at the beginning of the semester, participate in every session, and help plan and support the culminating event. They also coordinate logistics, communicate with families, and provide ongoing support to their co facilitating Legal Mentors.
  • Mock Trial runs for ten weeks in the fall (September through November), with a culminating trial in December.
  • Mock Appeal runs for eleven weeks in the spring (January through April) with a culminating event in May.
  • Identify a staff member to serve as Teacher Coordinator.
  • Provide basic after-school support for the program.
  • Help recruit a small group of students.
  • Arrange transportation for courthouse visits and final events.
For Legal Mentors

For more information about volunteer opportunities please reach out to Mock Trial & Mock Appeal team at AfterSchool@DiscoveringJustice.org.

The ideal team of legal mentors for our after school programs consists of three to six legal professionals. Volunteers can be attorneys of professional background, paralegals, law clerks, law librarians, law students, courthouse translators, and any other type of legal professional. Volunteers do not have to be experts on the particular laws of the case and do not have to be a trial or appellate attorney to volunteer for either program.

Legal mentors are required to be CORI checked, attend a one-two hour orientation, facilitate the weekly sessions, and be in attendance at the final Mock Trial or Mock Appeal event. Fact patterns, lesson plans, material, and presentations are provided by Discovering Justice. Legal mentors are encouraged to prepare for each session beforehand with their group and slightly modify the provided presentations to fit the needs of their group. Attendance at every session is highly encouraged but not required by every individual volunteer, but we require at least two volunteers present at each session. Please coordinate with other legal mentors on your team if you know you will be missing a session.

For All
  • Facilitation of a formal Case Committee (made up of volunteer attorneys, educators and our DJ program manager) to draft and revise case materials
  • A complete and comprehensive package of lesson and facilitation resources for both Mock Trial and Mock Appeal
  • Recruitment of judges, jury members, clerks, and legal mentors in collaboration with facilitators
  • The creation and supply of student materials and program t-shirts
  • Training for Teacher Coordinators and Legal Mentors, with all resources provided
  • Ongoing management of teams, communications, and courthouse event logistics

Chetna Gandhi

8th Grade student, JFK Middle School 

“Discovering Justice deepened my understanding of civics and government. The things I learned here helped me understand my classes—and that felt like it gave me the edge up in class, and in life.”

Siri Carr

8th grade ELA teacher, Brooke Charter School

“In Discovering Justice, kids are learning to believe in themselves, and become more confident. I’ve seen the power of my students getting to apply the skills they’re learning—and making those real world connections is so important.”

Masiah Nieves

8th grade student, Robinson Middle School

“During my four years doing Discovering Justice, I’ve made a lot of memories, and now I’ve found something I’m interested in, and something I’m really passionate about.”

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Alexandra

Alexandra vonBallmoos

Alex has over fifteen years of administrative experience, most recently at Boston Schools Fund. Prior to her time at BSF, she served as an Executive Assistant to the Head of School at Mother Caroline Academy, where she also provided major support to the Development office. Before her time at MCA, Alex served as an assistant at a media firm in Washington, DC.

This role oversees financial operations such as reconciliations, expense tracking, payroll, and donor acknowledgments, while managing organizational systems, employee records, and meeting coordination. It also provides event logistics, Board support, and office management, ensuring efficient processes, accurate recordkeeping, and the successful execution of programs, operations, and special events like the annual Spring Gala.

Rana Suh Kannan

Rana Suh Kannan

Rana Suh Kannan has spent nearly her entire 20+ year career dedicated to providing students with access to high-quality education experiences that lead to strong academic outcomes. She brings extensive and diverse experiences as a teacher, school administrator, funder, and nonprofit professional. Rana is committed to Discovering Justice’s mission to enable students to become well-equipped with the knowledge, skills, and desire to build and sustain an equitable democracy.

Prior to Discovering Justice, Rana spent seven years at Boston Schools Fund, most recently as the Chief Operating Officer. She co-led the development of the organization’s second fund, and ensured its operationalization across the organization. Previously, Rana played pivotal roles at organizations such as Salsify, Phoenix Charter Academy, The Achievement Network, and Roxbury Prep Charter School. Rana graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Psychology. She earned her Master’s in Education Policy & Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Mehana Koch

Mehana Koch is a recent graduate of Wellesley College, where she earned a BA in Psychology. She joined Discovering Justice excited to learn about nonprofit operations and support an organization whose mission uplifts and empowers future engaged citizens.

At Discovering Justice, Mehana enjoys supporting both the administrative and fundraising needs of the organization. Her day-to-day work includes processing donations, reconciling accounting information, and maintaining a strong database. She also has played a large role in onboarding new staff and supporting large organization-wide events, such as the Annual Gala.

Bianca Lora

Bianca Lora is passionate about expanding access to civic education, uplifting historically underrepresented voices, and creating spaces where young people can grow as informed and active members of their communities. With a background spanning across organizing, policy, and fundraising, she brings a collaborative spirit to the work.

Prior to this role, she led cross-departmental initiatives for donors at the ACLU of Massachusetts, including its 800-person annual gala. Bianca has also served as a Senior Legislative Assistant for a Councilmember At-Large in Montgomery County, Maryland where she oversaw a legislative portfolio on government operations, economic development, public safety and social justice issues. She also launched an organizing campaign alongside the adjunct faculty at Prince George’s Community College with SEIU.