After winning in preliminary rounds, the FHN mock trial team qualified for regionals. Seeded second, they will have their first trial of regionals against Ladue on Feb. 28. For this trial, they will compete as the defense. Come Thursday, they will face Kirkwood playing the plaintiff side.

“They qualified because they put in a lot of hard work and a lot of effort,” assistant coach Brian Dufrenne said. “It came real close, and we had a lot of great competition, but it turns out we won. I know that they work really hard, and I know that there is a lot of talent on this team.”

While qualifying for regionals was exciting for the team, not everyone gets to attend, because only one team from FHN can move on. However, the students involved all enjoy the club regardless.

“All in all, mock trial is really fun just in general,” senior Elizabeth Conley said. “It’s just a fun way to compete, and you get into it.”

Those participating in regionals have definitely stayed “into it” with multiple practices a week to prepare for each trial. Furthermore, the hours spent both at practices and at home have left some of the team feeling confident for their upcoming trial.

“I feel prepared because we’ve spent so many hours doing this, and we have worked really hard to put together a solid case for both sides,” senior Amber Pryor said. “We all work really well together, so as a team, I think we are ready.”

Students have not only been preparing for the trial, but they have also indirectly been preparing themselves for both their near and distant futures by learning life skills during their mock trial journeys.

“Students learn basic introductory lessons to law, which I think is really neat, and it can come in handy anywhere,” Dufrenne said. “Because with that, there is attention to detail, reading, writing, speaking, which is all great stuff. You can take that anywhere to any career. Also, for more thespianic folks, there’s a lot of acting involved in being a witness and also with being crafty, and so I think it teaches you how to think quickly, how to think well and how to prepare and work as a team, so I think it is one of the best events out there.”