Center for Law, Health & Society | News and Events | Center News | 2011 Archive | Students Mentor Carver High School Students Students Mentor Carver High School Students
February 4, 2011
The Student Health Law Association (SHLA) and Center for Law, Health & Society continued the Carver High School mentor program with two events in the Fall 2010 semester. The mentees are from the School of Health Sciences and Research, known as the LAB at Carver. Nearly twenty Carver students participated in the Fall events. 
To kick off the program, the Carver students came to the law school and received a lesson on health law. Through short TV and movie clips, the high school students were exposed to many aspects of the health law field, from healthy school lunches to global warming. The law students got to know the Carver students over lunch.
Dean Steven Kaminshine personally welcomed the Carver students to the College of Law. "This kind of engagement by our law students with our community is a model for public service," said Kaminshine. "Hopefully the mentoring program can foster interest among these talented Carver students to enter the legal profession after college."
College of Law graduate Heather Carter, Class of 2009, also spoke to the students about her career as in-house counsel to a local hospital.
"The high school students were highly engaged throughout the day, debating with each other and sharing personal experiences," said Megan Daugherty, President of SHLA.
In October, SHLA members and Carver students participated in the Journey Through Justice, a high school mock trial program created by the State Bar of Georgia. The high school students received a lesson on torts and a tour of the Bar, which included the law museum. The students ended the day with a mock trial - B.B. Wolf v. Curly Pig - where they played the attorneys, clients, witnesses, and bailiff. College of Law graduate Mark Wortham, Class of 1986, played the judge in this spin on the classic nursery rhyme.
"We’re looking forward to continuing the program in the spring semester with events at both Carver and the law school," Daugherty said. "The law students get as much from the program as do the high school students."
The Center’s Associate Director, Jerri Nims Rooker, created the mentor program as a community initiative in 2007. Carver is a model public school in Georgia incorporating a new way of learning in smaller, more personalized settings. There are five interest-specific schools at Carver that focus on real-world education.