By Amanda Thomas

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Since its establishment in 2009, Mock Trial Club has been paired with the Advanced Placement (AP) Government class, advised by Social Studies teacher Amy Perruso. Since that class is not offered this year, she decided to step down from the position and welcomed Social Studies teacher Jason Duncan to take her place as adviser.

“When I was hired, I spoke to (Perruso) and I expressed interest in helping out because she’s been the coach for the past three years, and she was like ‘yes please!’” stated Duncan.

With no prior experience in mock trial Duncan is learning the skills, abilities and tactics needed to lead and instruct the team from Lawyer Steven Hioki. “(Duncan) is actually learning a lot himself about mock trial and the person who is running the team right now is (Hioki), who is the lawyer coach that I’ve worked with for the past few years,” stated Perruso.

Having worked with mock trial teams from Waipahu, Moanalua and MHS for the past 15 years, Hioki is knowledgeable at interpreting the law and translating it in a way that is easy for the students to understand. “He’ll go through a diversity of strategies they need to essentially be a good lawyer of presenting a case,” said Duncan. The team’s weekly Tuesday meeting sessions consist of role-playing and extracting knowledge from Hioki’s lessons.

While Duncan is motivated to see that this year’s mock trial team is successful, he has had a few challenges. “For me it’s a personal challenge of developing my own knowledge base, it’s a new experience for me so as the students are learning I’m learning too,” stated Duncan. He has also had a difficult time in recruiting students to become members of mock trial. “The primary challenge is the recruitment, (it’s) getting students interested and being willing to dedicate the time and energy it takes especially when we get closer to the mock trial competitions,” he explained. Currently the team’s members are all new, consisting of six freshmen and one sophomore. He is still continuing the recruitment process, urging many of his students as well as their friends to join.

While Duncan admits that his ultimate goal would be to win the state championship and go on to nationals, he also hopes to see the students improve in skills that encompass the legal system. “I enjoy seeing them do things that are outside their comfort zone like developing the abilities to speak more loudly, more clearly (and) articulate their ideas. … The students develop their confidence skills that they didn’t have before,” explained Duncan. He has helped construct a friendly environment where the students feel comfortable asking questions and creating new friendships. “The things that I learn is fun, in mock trial we always make it like a family and in the end it’s really fun,” explained Freshman Megan Yamamoto.

Although the team is still developing, Duncan is hopeful for a successful season.