Navasota youth shine in courtroom trial competitions

COURTROOM PRESENCE. Representing Navasota High School’s AP government class and teen court at the University of Houston competition were, left to right, Bo Adams, Lacy Hughlett, Charlie Bennett, Eriksol Barrios, Wendy Barrios, Harvest Brown, Kristen Tiller, Mindy Brewer and Brittney Adams. Courtesy Photo.

A group of Navasota High School students is learning the ropes when it comes to having courtroom presence.

On June 8 - 9, members of the NHS AP government class and the City of Navasota's Teen Court attended a workshop at the University of Houston to learn about the judicial process in Texas, and to compete in Courtroom Trial competitions. The Navasota team placed third in the team competition.

Individual awards were also presented. The attorney team of Lacy Hughlett, Bo Adams, and Harvest Brown placed first in the competition out of 20 teams prosecuting a case of theft from an art room in a school.

Mindy Brewer and Brittney Adams placed ninth overall in the attorney teams as the defense for a case of classroom disruption.

Charlie Bennett was given a perfect score by the evaluators and placed second overall in the Court Clerk competition.

Much of the success of the Teen Court program can be attributed to the support given to it by the City of Navasota, Judge John LeFlore, and local attorneys, who spend numerous hours mentoring and instructing youth.

Mayor Bert Miller stated after hearing of the youth's success, “The City of Navasota is proud to sponsor the Teen Court program and is very proud of the accomplishments made by each of the members.”

Judge LeFlore added, “I'd like to congratulate the kids for a job well done. They are an asset to Grimes County and to Navasota, and they are always willing to go the extra mile and show what they have learned.”

Youth were allowed to participate actively as attorneys, bailiffs, clerks, jurors or observers.

Members of the Navasota Team who participated as attorneys were Bo Adams, Brittney Adams, Wendy Barrios, Mindy Brewer, Harvest Brown, Lacy Hugh-lett, and Kristen Tiller. Charlie Bennett participated as a clerk, and Eriksol Barrios as a juror.

At the two-day University of Houston workshop, Nava-sota ISD students interacted with other students who are committed to advancing their knowledge of U.S. government and our legal system from across the state.

Students had a myriad of experiences, including lectures by college law professors, small group interaction with university professors, law students, defense attorneys and prosecutors, training in specific courtroom procedures and duties of courtroom personnel, and participation in mock trials involving real misdemeanor cases referred from the municipal courts of Missouri City and Bay City.

The workshop portion of the project was designed to acquaint youth with how the judicial system works through hands-on, real-experience in-struction.

In addition to this instruction, students gained knowledge concerning vocational and educational opportunities and were able to interact with professionals such as U.S. attorneys, defense attorneys, and district attorneys.

As an added bonus, students were able to experience one-on-one evaluation from law professors and judges.

The workshop and competition was sponsored by a grant through the governor's office to the City of Navasota for Teen Court and by a grant made available through the Navasota Education Founda-tion.

Navasota Education Foundation President Cissy Smith said, “The goal of the Education Foundation is to enrich the educational experience of the youth of Navasota. It is exciting and gratifying to know that these students were able to achieve success and participate in such a wonderful program that would not have been available to them under normal circumstances. The Education Foundation is very proud of each of these students.”