BBHS Mock Trial Team Wins Sixth Consecutive Championship

Rye Brook, N.Y. – Yet another banner will be raised just outside of the Blind Brook High School auditorium. For the sixth time in team history, the BBHS Mock Trial team has won the Westchester County Mock Trial competition, avenging a previous loss to local rival Rye Neck in the county finals held at the Westchester County Courthouse in White Plains on the evening of April 11.

This marks the first county championship for second-year adviser Rita Gianfrancesco, whose 16-member team will now advance to the regional round with their sights set on qualifying for the New York State championships in Albany. For the past several weeks, the team has been competing against other high schools every Thursday afternoon in actual courtrooms presided over by real judges. The tournament requires them to deliberate the same assigned case every week: a student attempting to sue a college for not living up to its academic billing. In each instance, whether they were selected to be the defendant or the plaintiff, the BBHS Mock Trial team has come out on top.

“In the courtroom, you are arguing your case as if it is a real litigation and learning all of the appropriate procedures of a real trial,” said team member and senior Karan Das, who hopes to join the mock trial team at the University of California, Berkeley. Karan has already spoken to a former BBHS Mock Trial member who is on the Berkeley team, as well as the faculty adviser there. 

“Mock trial teaches you about collaborating on a team ethic…a team theory of working with others,” added fellow member and sophomore Adam Riesenfeld. “During the trial, you are up on the stand in a real courtroom learning from everyone around you. It’s just a great experience.”