Veritas Classical Academy advanced to the finals of the 42nd Annual Texas High School Mock Trial Competition, Head of School Aaron Laenger announced March 11.
The Veritas team emerged from a field of 140 schools from across Texas to claim second place in the competition that concluded March 6. It is the first time that a school from Southeast Texas has advanced to the finals of the annual event, which is run by the Dallas Bar Association and sponsored by local bar associations in 14 regions from across the state, including the Jefferson County Bar Association. This year’s regional competitions concluded on Feb. 6, and state competition took place March 4-6.
Formed just four years ago with a team of freshmen and two sophomores, Veritas has advanced to the state competition four times, improving their performance each year. After finishing 8th in Dallas in 2020, Veritas had to overcome new challenges this year as the competition shifted from actual courtrooms to a virtual, Zoom-based platform. Students mock-litigated an entertaining case loosely based on the hit documentary “Tiger King” featuring the disappearance and possible murder of a Joe Exotic type character in the fictional state of Texoma.
Competing from the comfort of the Veritas campus in downtown Beaumont, the team faced tough competition from 24 of the best teams in the state. Despite a high school student population of fewer than 50 students, Veritas advanced through its bracket against much larger schools, including the largest private school in Texas. In the semifinal round, Veritas defeated the Law Magnet School from Dallas, the #1 seeded team in the tournament. The final was judged by eleven attorneys and judges, and Veritas lost by a single ballot to claim second overall in the competition.
Team participants included student “attorneys” Samantha Merrill, Grace Ross, Anna Kate Owens, and Ian Mitchell, student witnesses Ty Merrill, Colin Merrill, Amber Morrison, Stephen Gilbert, and Marianna Latil, timekeeper Benjamin Willis, and courtroom artist Natalie Bean. Team coaches are Assistant U.S. Attorney John B. Ross, Beaumont attorney Ryan D. White, and retired paralegal Jody Lee.
Aaron Laenger congratulated students, remarking that “Mock trial represents the culmination of Veritas’ classical approach to learning: an emphasis on rock-solid logical reasoning combined with public speaking and presentation skills to persuade others of our ideas. I am so proud of this team!”
Veritas Classical Academy, a Christian classical school founded in 2013, pioneered the collaborative “university style” school model in Southeast Texas. Students attend classes two days per week and follow their on-campus instructors’ lesson plans at home the remainder of the week. Students through 4th grade attend classes at Westgate-Memorial Baptist Church, while 5th and up attend classes at the main Veritas campus, the restored education building of the former Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Beaumont. More information about Veritas is available at its website, http://www.veritasclassicalacademy.org. More information about the Texas High School Mock Trial Competition is available at http://www.texashighschoolmocktrial.com/
