Center for Law, Health & Society | News and Events | Center News | 2011 Archive | Taking Carver High School Students on a Journey Taking Carver High School Students on a Journey
November 11, 2011
ATLANTA - The Student Health Law Association (SHLA) continued its Carver High School Mentor Program in the fall 2011 semester, taking the high school students to their second Journey Through Justice (JTJ) program at the State Bar of Georgia. Nearly twenty high school students, all from the Health Science & Research school at Carver, attended the event.
The JTJ is a free program offered by the State Bar of Georgia that includes a law lesson on a topic chosen by the students, a mock trial related to the chosen topic, and a tour of the law museum. "We took the students on their first Journey Through Justice last year," said Megan Daugherty (4L), SHLA’s Carver Mentor Project Coordinator. "Based on their enthusiasm, we decided to do it again this year."
Added David Rhodes, 2010-11 SHLA Community Outreach officer, "Each year more of the Carver students are interested in pursuing legal careers, so hopefully this outreach is working."
As part of the 2011-12 Carver Mentor Program, the high school will enter its first team in the Georgia High School Mock Trial Competition. Interest in this competition was triggered by last year’s participation in the JTJ program.
"The students were so engaged in the mock trial aspect of the JTJ last year, that I thought we should enter a team in the mock trial competition," said Melanie Smith, Carver teacher and coach of the mock trial team.
Although coaching and preparing a mock trial team for the first time will be a challenge, a number of Georgia State Law students and alumni are participating as student and attorney coaches. "The Carver students are such a pleasure to work with," said Heather Carter (JD ’09), former SHLA president and co-founder of the Carver Mentor Program. "I am sure they will work hard and learn a lot about the law through this experience."
Mock trial practices will begin in November 2011, and the regional competition is in February 2012. Any students, alumni, or faculty who are interested in participating are welcome and encouraged to contact Megan Daugherty at mdaugherty2@student.gsu.edu.
Contact:
Amy Grover
Senior Administrative Coordinator