Clark’s Mock Trial team participated in an extremely competitive event during November 2025, and scored marvelously. They participated in Los Angeles County’s Teach Democracy competition going against other Mock Trial teams from clubs, organizations, and classes. Split into two teams, a defense and a prosecution, students fight in a courtroom to prove the innocence or guilt of a fictional rising chef. “Competing against the other 92 teams was difficult, but our team prepared and worked so hard that no one could dim our light,” Mock Trial President, Irena Haroutiunian said.
The road to getting a high placement and making it past the preliminaries, was demanding. The presidents, seniors Irena Haroutanian and Karine Sedrakyan, hosted auditions to assign roles in the courtroom to Mock Trial students. After students were assigned the roles of either attorney, witness, bailiff, or timekeeper, the Sunday practices began.
Practices are rehearsals that students had to participate in every Sunday, since September at Clark, to work with Mrs. O’Gara, Judge O’Gara, Mr. Mejia, and Mr. Dordulian who act as the students’ teacher coaches and attorney coaches. In 6 weeks all students had to “understand the complexities of a criminal case – including how to form an argument, how to ask questions within the rules of a courtroom setting, what objections are and how to use them during trial, and how to act in a way that brings a character to life,” Mrs. O’Gara said. “I’ve been doing this now for 18 years and every group of Clark students always impresses me with the final outcome.”
The entire class took a bus to downtown LA to the Los Angeles County Superior Court Stanley Mosk Courthouse on the Mondays of November 3rd, 10th, and the 17th , after school ended, to compete in this tournament. “We worked extremely hard and we achieved a lot, our performance was great and we followed the rules, followed court protocols, and conveyed actual legal knowledge,” junior Leila Sahabi said.
After the many strenuous matches, The Mock Trial team placed top 16 in the entirety of the competition, a wonderful and well-earned spot. After dominating the first round, they were placed with another team of their caliber, since they scored much higher than the other team.
Winning the second round guaranteed the team a placement in the Top 16 while other, lower scoring teams had to do more matches. “Top 16 is no small feat, especially in the Los Angeles area. I am so proud of our hard work, communication, and commitments. All this dedication was the reason we made it this far, this fast without being undefeated,” senior Christopher Khachikyan said.
This Mock Trial season was extremely successful, as the students placed in a top position this year, something they haven’t done since 2019. Although they didn’t pass their third round, the verdict from the judge was always on their side. Teamwork, cooperation, and communication is the leading cause of the success of this competition. Congratulations to Clark’s Mock Trial team!
