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Mock Trial champs

HAMPDEN – The Maine State High School Mock Trial championship team from Hampden Academy finished 19th out of 44 teams at the National High School Mock Trial Championship held May 6-8 in Charlotte, N.C. It was the highest ranking ever achieved by a Maine team.

Forty-four teams from 41 states, the Northern Marianas Islands and Guam competed in the national competition. Each team participated in four rounds before the championship round. The Hampden Academy team competed against teams from North Carolina, Washington state, the Northern Marianas Islands and Utah, losing the first two rounds narrowly and winning the last two rounds by fairly wide margins.

After each of the four competition rounds, teams were ranked based on won-lost records, total number of scoring ballots received and total number of points from each ballot. The Hampden Academy team received seven out of a maximum of 12 ballots, along with 1,056 points.

The overall competition was won by Tamalpais High School from California, which bested Kauai High School of Hawaii in the championship round. The state championship team from Arizona placed third.

This year’s competition was based on a hypothetical lawsuit following the death of a fictional NASCAR driver in an accident at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Just before the race, the driver’s racing team had installed a new piece of equipment – a “Jetseat 909” – which made it easier for the driver to switch among the accelerator, brake and clutch. When the driver’s car was involved in a collision with another racecar, one of the bolts holding the Jetseat in place sheared off, allowing the seat to cock and the driver’s head to strike the side wall of the vehicle, resulting in his death.

The late driver’s estate brought suit against the bolt manufacturer for failure to properly “heat treat” the bolts. The company argued that there was nothing wrong with the bolts. Moreover, officials pointed out the driver was wearing a new kind of helmet that day, one not tethered to his seat.

Students portrayed both attorneys and witnesses, conducted opening statements and closing arguments, and made direct and cross-examinations, and evidentiary objections.

The students were pleased and excited to have the opportunity to communicate with NASCAR driver and Hampden Academy graduate Ricky Craven by e-mail and telephone, and to gain valuable insight from him about the world of NASCAR racing.

The welcome reception for the mock trial teams was held at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where competing students were given rides around the race track in official pace cars.

Awards for Best Attorney and Best Witness in a given round were earned by Hampden Academy seniors Lauren Hartz, Katelyn Lawler, Jennifer Swalec and Scott Simpson.

Other Hampden Academy team members in the National Championship were Caroline Samp, Rebecca Workman, Amy Dumont and Morgan Silva. In addition to the competing roster, limited to eight students, the Hampden Academy team includes Peter Herrick, Kaylie Reese, Kristina King, Zach Boyd, Logan Deane, Jessi Hackett, Sam Wood, Sophie Kelmenson, Stefanie Veneziano, Paige Clifton, Sam Dow and John White. Kathryn King is the team’s teacher coach. Attorney coaches were Bill Devoe of the law firm of Eaton Peabody in Bangor, and Jim McCarthy, assistant U.S. attorney in Bangor.

Hampden Academy’s principal, Ruey Yehle, and teacher Ben Johnson also accompanied the team.

The Maine high school Mock Trial Program has been in existence since 1992, and is sponsored by the Maine Bar Association and Maine Bar Foundation. It is presented through the Maine Law & Civics Education Program at the University of Maine School of Law.

Bangor High artists

BANGOR – Students artists from Bangor High School will have their work on display during June in the Lecture Hall at Bangor Public Library.

William S. Cohen School

BANGOR – The William S. Cohen School’s MathCounts team took first place at the state competition in Waterville on March 26. Sixteen schools were represented at the competition and 47 students took part.

Josh Scripture, a pupil at William S. Cohen School, earned a place on the state team, which will compete in the nationals in Detroit this month.

Andrew Audibert, a pupil at William S. Cohen School, placed sixth in the competition. Also to be congratulated for their contributions to the team are Cote Theriault, Chris Beland and Ian McDonnell.

Regina Ruhlin coaches the team.

Bangor High School

BANGOR – Megan Yardley, a senior at Bangor High School, has been awarded a Best Buy Children’s Foundation Scholarship. She is the daughter of Rita and Shawn Yardley and plans to attend Stonehill College in the fall.

The foundation awarded 1,308 scholarships worth $1,000-2,000 to students throughout the United States.

National Science Foundation

BANGOR – Bangor High School student Jue Wang placed third at the national level of the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in San Diego in April.

He presented a research paper, ” Modeling the Role of Surface Processes in Nitric Oxide Detection on W3 Sensors.” Wang’s research project was conducted under the auspices of the National Science Foundation GK-12 Sensors Program at the University of Maine Laboratory for Surface Science and Technology.

Colleges

Alfred University

ALFRED, N.Y. – Megan Gray of Milford was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Alfred University. A graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School, she is the daughter of Darrell Gray of Milford.

Grove City College

GROVE CITY, Pa. – Julie Hodsdon was honored recently with induction into the Scroll and Key at Grove City College.

Scroll and Key is the scholastic honor society for seniors and the highest academic award given by the college.

Hodsdon is the daughter of Charles II and Judith Hodsdon of Bangor and a 2001 graduate of home-schooling.

Marlboro College

MARLBORO, Vt. – Jason M. Moreau, son of Raymond Moreau and Karen Buyno of Bangor, graduated from Marlboro College on May 15 with a bachelor’s degree in English and French comparative literature.

He was awarded the Roland W. Boyden Prize for excellence in the humanities. His studies focused on how marginalized cultures can be revived in modern literature and remain relevant to the present and future. His work examined James Joyce, Hubert Aquin and the modern Occitan revival in France.

Moreau, a graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, plans to study for a master’s degree in comparative literature at Dartmouth College.