Mock Trial (2025-26): A Historic Season in Review
Media provided by: Anna Grafton
From the classroom to the courtroom, the Mock Trial team has faced and overcome many obstacles. Grace made history this year, qualifying for the New York City Regional Semifinals for the first time in the school’s history.
As a Wednesday, semester-long lab-day class, the team had only 10 hours of classroom preparation. Classwork entailed studying basic courtroom procedures and mannerisms, and learning the intricacies of objections.
At the High School level, a mock trial is an academic competition in which students simulate a civil or criminal case. Students act as lawyers and witnesses, presenting themselves in official courtrooms before actual judges.
Before the season even began, Ms. Anna Grafton, High School History teacher and Mock Trial Advisor, warned us about the competition’s difficulty at the regional New York City level, making it clear that the team would need hard work and significant practice to be competitive.
When the semester began, the team had practically no knowledge of how mock trial simulations worked, let alone any strategic courtroom techniques.
Nevertheless, team dedication was unwavering and is a testament to the team’s success this school year. Competing in this year’s “2025 New York State Mock Trial Tournament”, with a total of over 350+ schools, the statewide competition kicked off on February 2nd, where Grace faced off against the Urban Assembly school.
It wasn’t easy, but the team prevailed to the second round, going on to face Lycée Français de New York, a round characterized by effective objections and a battle of decorum in the heat of the courtroom. The team showed up: Jed S. ‘27 led the pack with an exceptional opening statement for the Defense team, while Luci W. ‘27 challenged the Prosecution with crafty and relentless objections.
While the team lost in the regional semifinals, the season was far from a failure, and if not for illness and the need for last-minute replacements, there’s no telling how far the team could have gone. While we all believed in our team’s quality, the lack of practice, combined with prior-year struggles, led us to expect a second-round exit at best.
Jed S. ‘27, Defense Attorney for the team, reflected on the season in its totality and had a lot to say.
“What a good season! The class was pretty challenging at first, and the preparation for competitions were not easy, but I think we exceeded everyone’s expectations of us”.
Similarly, Emmett P. ‘27, a witness for the Defense, voiced: “ I am sad we lost in the third round, but making it that far was great. Arguing a criminal case was exciting, and being able to refine and practice my abilities as a witness over multiple rounds was a nice experience”.
As the leader of the Mock Trial team, Ms. Grafton reflects that just a few years ago, “I didn’t really know anything about it, and for a year, it was a real struggle to get it going because we didn’t have a good meeting time, so I asked to make it into a Wednesday class.”
She also emphasized her love for the skills it teaches and that it gets students out of the building to do something cool and different.
While the team was unable to win the regional championship and move on to the statewide finals, the feats this year’s team accomplished will not be forgotten, and are just the beginning for the mock trial team as a true competitor and force to be reckoned with for years to come.
Blake H. ‘27, the author and a member of Mock Trial, is a staff writer for The Grace Gazette