Regional Champs

I'm stealing this post from one of Eric's recent emails: As many of you know, I've been coaching a high school mock trial team since November. The students attend Mariana's Baptist Academy.

For the first two months we practiced two to three times a week in the evening. By February, we were meeting four times a week for three hours each, and by the end of February, we met every day. I was shocked at how incredibly hard everyone worked. The students would email me at 11 p.m., 2 a.m., and 5 a.m. with questions. Then they’d come to class, take feedback, revise their material, and then try again the next class. We also had a few emotional breakdowns and panic attacks along the way. But overall, these were about the hardest working high school students I've ever met.

Following three preliminary rounds, MBA advanced to the finals against the defending champions, Mt. Carmel. The final trial was held in the Supreme Court Courtroom, and lasted just over two hours. The 10 jurors (of attorneys and former judges) then filled out their ballots and returned their verdict: MBA was crowned the 2009 CNMI High School Mock Trial Champions. I really wish you could have seen the students' reactions. All the girls were bawling. One kept saying, “This is the greatest day of my entire life.” When I went into work on Monday, all the secretaries stood up and clapped, and the Saipan Tribune wrote a front-page article on the victory. This island definitely takes mock trial seriously.

DongHee Im, Dencio Manglona, SoYoung Lee, Laura Lee

Cameron Armstrong, Chan Woo Lee, Sung Jun Hwang, DongHee Im, YongHwa Choi, SoYoung Lee, Xiao Tian Falig, Laura Lee, Michael Sheu, Dencio Manglona, Eric Nelson

Celebration lunch at Tony Roma's and, apparently, Eric's birthday (only a few months late).

The team is now headed to Atlanta , Georgia for the national finals in May. Unfortunately, this means we’ll have to prepare for a new case, but the students are ecstatic. Many of them will be traveling to the U.S. for the first time. It was really fun to watch them perform. I’ll actually have to leave Atlanta a day early so I can make it back for our Manila temple trip. In the meantime, if anybody wants to see them in action, book your flights to Atlanta. :)