“The program is valuable and gives the students a forum to develop a variety of skills like public speaking, organization, reasoning to a diverse student population with varied interests,” said Smith.
compete in an actual courtroom, presenting their case before a presiding judge and three evaluative jurors, who are actually volunteer judges and lawyers from the community. The Fayetteville Academy coach,
Jeff Smith, teaches government, world history and theater has been part of the NCAJ mock trial program for six years mentoring two teams of 16 students. “The program is valuable and gives the students a forum to develop a variety of skills like public speaking, organization and reasoning to a diverse student population with varied interests,” said Smith.
“It’s a gratifying experience to see
them in a courtroom setting talking to judges and lawyers about the cases and then see the spark of when they make the connection of how to crack the case.” Rebecca Britton, a personal injury
attorney at Britton Law, P.A. in Fayetteville, serves as a regional coordinator and sponsor for the Fayetteville Regional Competition teams. Britton also serves as the site coordinator for the state finals. “The individual impact on these students is most rewarding,” Britton said. “As a former coach I saw the life-changing effects that the students underwent as a result of participating in the program.
70 | July/August • 2011
