In 2008, Debra Tavaras was charged with creating a program at Atlanta’s Kennedy Middle School to help students understand their legal rights. She quickly realized the youngsters already had a good deal of knowledge – but not enough.
“A lot of them only understood criminal law,” said Tavaras. “But they didn’t have a strong understanding of their rights and responsibilities under the Constitution. Not a lot of civics classes address that, and they need to understand the laws to make change.”
Tavaras decided the best way to teach that lesson was to have students research and write case briefs, then present them to a mock court. The idea proved so successful that in 2010, the Young Litigators Project was designed to include other middle schools where volunteer law students and attorneys worked with students each week throughout the year to compose briefs on a select issue. It wasn’t long before high schools were joining in.
“We started with four schools and grew from word of mouth,” said Tavaras. “We haven’t had to recruit participants, and I hope it keeps growing.”
The students and volunteers delve into complex issues such as immigration, bullying, zero tolerance and police conduct. “We try to keep to current issues that directly or indirectly affect them,” said Tavaras.
After months of preparing arguments, the students showcase their work in the spring when they participate in a mock court before a panel of real judges, including members of the state’s Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals.
This year marked the project’s 10th court session, held in early March at the Fulton County Government Assembly Hall. Eight public and independent schools were represented, including The Life School, whose seven high schoolers participated for the first time. Their assignment: Look into the Georgia governor’s election.
“They had to create an argument for what they thought was fair, choose a position and defend it,” said Life School Principal Mikala Streeter. “This being an election year, it was really timely for us. We could talk to people working in our city about things we were studying in books.”
The project also gave students new insights into the workings of the legal system, Streeter added.
“They had an idea from television about how lawyers work,” she said. “Now, they have a much clearer idea. That’s very important for us, for students to explore in a hands-on way what they’re interested in.”
The students learn real-life lessons from the law students at Emory, Georgia State and John Marshall, as well as working attorneys from solicitor’s offices in Atlanta and Gwinnett.
“Some of the volunteers get so involved, they’re often at the schools more than once a week,” said Tavaras. “The result of all this is we’ve seen increases in the students’ critical thinking, research, writing and oral presentation skills.”
The project promotes many of the same approaches to change being discussed in the public arena in recent weeks.
“Protesting brings awareness, but to bring change, we need to understand how to do it effectively,” said Tavaras. “This project helps students become productive citizens by giving them knowledge and understanding. And ultimately, they educate their peers as well.”
Schools interested in participating in the fall session of the project will find more information online at soulsticeinc.org.
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Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
