By 2025, Law Related Education plans to more than double the size of our mock trial program to include a minimum of 60 teams and host regional mock trial competitions in all seven judicial districts. To meet this ambitious goal, the LRE Committee has spent the last year developing a strategic plan that will serve to guide this growth.

While the plan will not official begin until May of 2018, the program is already off to a good start. Mock trial has steadily grown over the last several seasons and for the 2018 competition, it’s anticipated that participation will increase from 24 to at least 30 teams, including 4 new schools who have never before participated in mock trial.

The Mock Trial Strategic Plan will include three focus areas.

• Education: Provide a hand-on educational experience that ties to Idaho’s Common Core Standards and creates opportunities for students in all parts of Idaho to practice what they have learned.
• Competition: Utilize a competition model that delivers high quality content to maximize learning and provides opportunities for sportsmanship.
• Funding: Create a consistent pipeline of annual funding sufficient to cover staff and competition expenses.

The initial stages of the mock trial strategic plan focus on growing mock trial in more rural school districts in the Sixth and Seventh Judicial Districts. According to Idaho’s Department of Education, two-thirds of Idaho students attend school in rural school districts, many of which do not currently offer programs like mock trial.  For many of rural districts, their greatest impediment for participating in extracurricular educational activities relates to access and funding.  The Mock Trial Strategic Plan offers practical support that makes participation in mock trial feasible

2018-2019 objectives include:

• Recruiting 10 new mock trial teams from underserved, rural schools in Idaho’s Sixth and Seventh Judicial Districts.
• Identifying and training at least 20 new attorney and teacher coach partners to lead mock trial teams in the Sixth and Seventh Districts.
• Underwriting Sixth and Seventh District costs that make it possible for teams to participate in state mock trial activities.

The Law Related Education Program is excited to begin a concerted, thoughtful effort to grow Idaho’s mock trial program in the years to come. If you are interested in getting involved in mock trial, contact Carey Shoufler. You can also sign up using the Online Volunteer Form.