Throughout the year, students have been reading the humorous, and sometimes suspenseful, Mock Trial updates posted on schoology by Mr. Deutch. All of that hard work has paid off, as the Mock Trial team made their way to Albany to compete in the national championships. The team arrived in Albany May 19. The team then had until the evening to relax and get ready for the welcome dinner at 6:00. The next morning, the team had to get up at 6:30 to be at the competition at 7:50. The defense team was competing, and they won that round. Next, the prosecution team played Cathedral High School, against whom they narrowly lost. The team ended up getting 5th in the state! The next morning, they got to watch the finals. 

Before this year, it had been almost 30 years since the mock trial team made it to Albany. This in mind, the obvious question seems to be, what made this year’s team so special that they made it all the way to the state championships? Nathan Hiltzik ‘25,  a member of the Mock Trial team, said “Mr. Deutch has been amazing and has brought something so special to the team.” Mr. Deutch shared how the team grew together throughout the year, and concluded by saying “I look forward to discussing our championship season with you this time next year..” Hiltzik continued to say, “A lot of the people on the team this year were also on the team last year, and we really were all able to work together so well and we all had such a special bond.” Regarding the experience of going to Albany, Hiltzik said, “The trip to Albany was an incredible experience. We learned so much from other schools who were amazing. As this is the championship, there were no mistakes, and it was clear that every school that was there deserved to be there completely.”